Starship invasions dvd

Star Trek: Voyager

2011.06.19 19:46 Space-Dementia Star Trek: Voyager

Welcome to the subreddit all about Star Trek: Voyager! The aim of this subreddit is to provide a friendly and welcoming environment to discuss all things Voyager related.
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2024.05.18 18:56 sourhead95 [US][Selling] blu ray movie

[US][Selling] blu ray movie
Look to sale the set or bundle
submitted by sourhead95 to MediaSwap [link] [comments]


2024.05.18 17:32 damurphy72 Discussion: Gameplay Conceits vs. In-Game Lore

Everybody who plays video games regularly knows that games frequently ignore reality in the name of fun. Why are there health packs and ammo lying around for the Doom marine to find? How can Mario jump so high? Why does floor chicken heal my vampire hunter, and why is it there? More realistic games, and games that edge into "survival" game territory, give more and more nods to realism but still abstract a bunch of stuff like the need to regularly visit a toilet. (Yes, I've heard of Death Stranding and I'm sure there are other games that involve toilets that you're only going to see reviews of on Patreon.)
Starfield is interesting in how many of these things are actually justified in lore.
Space Travel: In-game you can find characters who talk about how space travel is made as idiot-proof as possible thanks to sophisticated control software. Space suits are also pretty idiot-proof. You start the game watching Lin and Heller put on their suits and it is trivially easy. You can lookup videos online of actual astronauts demonstrating the process in today's tech and it is a lot more involved. Add in the fact that the suits in game obviously can repair themselves from punctures and erosion of environmental protections. For that matter, ships have self-repair routines. The ubiquitous vacuum tape is a nod to the fact that slapping some tape on something to hold it together long enough for the self-repair to work is all that's necessary.
What's interesting is that as you explore, you will find LOTS AND LOTS OF DEAD PEOPLE. Derelict spaceships, crashes, survivalists and scientists dead on the ground are all in abundance. Space is still massively dangerous...just like driving a car is one of the most dangerous things you can do today. It's still something tons of folks do, including casual tourists and school field trips.
Of course, they could have just hand-waved all of that like Star Wars, but they didn't and I think it makes for a better game.
Medicine: One of the things I love about the Fallout TV show is that they play the medical care completely straight with the games. A stimpak can heal you up and limbs can be reattached and be fully functional. Starfield has 24th century medicine and it is pretty much magical. What's not necessarily obvious at first glance, though, is that there are indications that when humanity fled Earth, a lot of effort went into making humanity capable of surviving in a variety of alien environments. The diaspora through the Settled Systems had to have focused a lot of attention on biology and medicine.
I find this completely believable. I'm old enough that I've had invasive abdominal surgery more than once. A difference of just thirty years between instances was enough to massively alter the experience. The first time, I got scars and a long recovery period. The second time I went home right afterward. I have no doubt that in 300 years I can just walk into an Enhance! and look however I want.
Firearms: This is an area where they massively ignore reality in favor of gameplay convenience. While firearms (with some exceptions) tend to be reasonably robust devices, they aren't designed to work outside of an Earth-standard environment (because they don't need to be). Most of the "Old Earth" firearms should fail to fire in most of the hostile environments in the game. Vacuum welding is a thing...and who here thinks a gun would fire on the surface of Venus?
Let's assume Combatech, Alliance, and Laredo ballistic weapons are designed to operate in vacuum with the right alloys and polymers, plus caseless ammo that might be triggered via electrical currents instead of mechanical parts. It would make sense that the great power arms suppliers would meet the needs of space and hostile environmental combat. Even with that, ballistic trajectories would vary dramatically in different atmospheres and gravity fields, and there is only so much on-board electronics could offset. Energy weapons would also behave differently in different environments. You can find papers online describing the effect atmosphere has on lasers.
I don't know that a completely realistic portrayal could be fun. It might be interesting, though, if different types of weapons had advantages and disadvantages based upon the environment. We get a tiny view of that with lasers not suffering recoil in zero-G.
Survival: So, this isn't going to be a completely fair conversation because survival mode is a work in progress in the game. We've already stated that starships and suits are self-repairing and idiot-proof. Here are some of the nods to survival that I really like in the game:
Communications: It isn't obvious, but everybody has radios and can communicate with each other. When you help out Louisa in The Well, she guides you via radio. You also have no problem talking to others, even when you're all wearing spacesuits. What does not appear to exist is FTL communications. So, when somebody wants you to deliver a message to another person in another star system, that's somewhat justified. Sometimes this doesn't work. Delgado doesn't seem to be able to communicate with you in the Lock, but it's possible that a prison would be designed to prevent easy communication without landlines. Similarly, you can't just radio to another planet even the same system without a booster of some kind (such as with the quest Failure to Communicate). Large batches of data also sometimes need hand delivery with data slates. That would make a certain amount of sense, as bandwidth limitations are a thing. A certain tree quest comes to mind, here.
Communications tech complicates things for scriptwriters, but I'm surprised at how hard it is for me to find examples of that being a problem in game. It is a little weird that your parents just drop you messages at the Lodge rather than just sending you an e-mail, but you could argue that your "job" takes you out of the system regularly and they know you'll return to the Lodge eventually. Most of the fetch quests involve physical goods or sensitive materials.
So, what categories am I missing? Do you disagree with my thoughts in these areas?
submitted by damurphy72 to NoSodiumStarfield [link] [comments]


2024.05.17 17:07 ikieneng My fanfiction - episode 3!

My fanfiction - episode 3!
The next part is here! This episode is actually so long that I'm going to split it, so today, you're only getting part 2 of 3.
DISCLAIMERS (the same ones as before)
The point of this fanfiction is not to be a straight-up continuation of events with the same themes, intensity, and tone. If you go into it with those expectations, you are probably not going to like it. Rather, it’s supposed to be how I wish things went if these events were real life. The resolution you want for a real-life situation isn’t often the right choice for a show, but it can be incredibly beautiful. Think of what you’re about to read to be a separate show then.
Episode 1 of this fanfiction begins after the episode “2:00” (season 2 episode 4), so it replaces the episode “Cake” and the ones that follow it. This fanfiction expects you to have seen the entirety of seasons 1 and 2, so you should watch those first.
I myself am bursting into the story here. The narrator and me are the same. While my character is like 95% real me, don’t take events about my life described here as facts. Some aspects of my life have been changed for the story. In my head, I started writing like an “alternate me” character in 2016, fulfilling a lot of the things that I wish I had in life, adding that to my story. I’m not really from Ukraine. I speak fluent Ukrainian as a foreign language, I started learning it in 2014, and I’ve talked to tons of people from there, but I’m not from Ukraine. I also don’t have as much money as I do in the story. I wish lmao.
If you want to post your own fanfiction, feel free to do so! To get your own post flair for your fanfic, and to appear in the side bar, please message me.
Just some code, so the thumbnail of the first link isn’t used as the thumbnail of the post:
.thumbnail.default { background: https://i.ibb.co/TT09vzM/IMG-2842.jpg(%%img-name%%); } .thumbnail.self { background: https://i.ibb.co/TT09vzM/IMG-2842.jpg%%img-name%%); }
Part 2 (day 2)
During the first day of us being together in the attic, Leanne would not tell me about her powers yet or any aspect of how that played into the events with the doll, etc., because she knows how crazy the truth sounds. She's always kept it pretty much a secret from everyone outside of the Church of Lesser Saints (although Sean is slowly figuring it out), but with how we might not have a choice than to go the police if we run out of rations before someone comes up into the basement, she knows she has to tell me, because if the police come, they will figure out that there was a living baby there, which was Jericho reanimated by her, but what are the police going to think? That either Dorothy, Sean, Julian, or Leanne snatched a baby, and they're not going to believe any of the supernatural explanations that are the truth. So Leanne knows that she has to convince me of her powers somehow, so I can know the full picture of what happened, so we can come up with a plan for how to handle that. So while it's still our first day locked up together in the attic, she asks me if I'm left-handed or right-handed. I say I'm right-handed. Without telling me, she uses her powers so that when I wake up, I will have lost all sensation in my left hand. When waking up on day 2, at first, of course, I'm a freaked out, but then, she reveals to me that she did it because otherwise, I'd never believe that she really does have supernatural powers. While I’m still pretty freaked out, she takes her Bible and prays over it while reciting some verses, and suddenly, my hand is back to normal.
https://preview.redd.it/wonqhlu0301d1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=ab7872b90a369ef81293d4f8d95fef8298c355f3
I’d need a minute to process what just happened, discovering the supernatural, and once Leanne has reassured me, she’d break down crying, telling me that she has to tell me the full picture of what’s going on with the Turners. I’d hug her and tell her she can tell me when she’s ready. She’d tell me I’d never have believed her otherwise, and I’d tell her that because I know why she did it now, it’s okay, no hard feelings or anything. And she’d tell me the full story of how, when she first came to the Turners and saw the doll, she wanted to give Dorothy a second chance and make her happy by giving her Jericho back, so she made the doll real, so when the Church of Lesser Saints (which she’d tell me about as well) forced her to leave under threat and forced her to turn the baby back into a doll, Dorothy's illusion broke, and she came to the false conclusion that Leanne kidnapped Jericho, and that's why she kidnapped her and why she’s torturing her and locking her up…
That would be another really hard thing to hear, and she'd cry as she'd tell me the rest, like how Sean refuses to wake Dorothy up, which could end all of this in an instant, and how Julian is protecting them, and how there's nothing Leanne can do to change her situation because there is no baby that she can give to her. She'd cry so hard in my arms, and I'd just comfort her a lot more and hug her... My mind would still be blown that I got proof of the supernatural for the first time ever, but I'd feel even more sorry for her than before and that she's being put through all these horrible things while she's completely powerless to change the situation, and I'd be so angry at Sean for refusing to tell Dorothy the truth, and how he's willing to have Leanne go through all this horrible abuse because he can't convince himself to tell Dorothy… “I can’t give Jericho back to her”, she’d tell me, and I’d be like “I wouldn’t either. I wouldn’t trust that woman with caring for any human being, much less a baby”, and Leanne would silently nod with a hint of a smile for a second after the first bit of reassurance that she’s making the right decision before I’m asking her if she knows how Jericho died, and she’d tell me. I'd reassure Leanne that none of this is her fault, that it's horrible what everyone is putting her through instead of facing the hard decisions that could solve it all and end her suffering. “I just wanted to give Mrs. Turner a second chance and make things better for her again because I saw how awful things were with the doll…” My face would like be halfway happy because I think that’s so sweet, it’s such a perfect encapsulation of Leanne’s intentions in season 1, and I’d like rub her back 🥺
https://preview.redd.it/mj2n72u3301d1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=4c0ae718794fe9a0ca2a2d0087260e6afec5ae0d
And she’d tell me about all the bullying she’s received by Sean and Julian for it, even after Sean decided to keep the baby, like swapping the labels of the cans of tomato soup with dog food, how they put hundreds of crickets in her room, how Sean went through her things, how Julian hired Wanda to be her fake friend, and how she even overheard Julian even suggesting turning off the heating in her room (she wouldn’t know about the camera because there’s no indication that she ever noticed it).
https://preview.redd.it/0skxtxs5301d1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=694d0e76c7bacf4da279c406c2b872b43cd2791b
She'd tell me about the baptism. People have seen the living baby, so if the police come, they will find out about it, so what do we do then, since they would never believe the truth that Leanne reanimated the doll, and that it was literally Jericho? I’d be like “plausible deniability”, and I’d explain that, by that, I mean “If you reanimated the baby and turned it literally into Jericho, then there’s no living baby that the police can find anywhere. If they find DNA in the house, it will be Jericho’s, so they will assume that it’s not the baby’s. There’s no actual missing baby that they can confidently link to the case. Screw it, if the police get involved, let’s say that Sean, Julian, or heck, even Dorothy must have brought the baby in, and that they threatened you not to tell anyone with non-specific threats, and how could you not take those threats seriously after one of them brought someone’s baby into the house” Leanne would be surprised that I’d be willing to do that and ask me about it. I’d be like “After all you’ve just told me, yeah, let’s do that. It will be your word against theirs, so no one’s gonna actually actually go to prison for this particular crime, and if we’re open about the fact that there was a baby, they might take our account of things more seriously. And are you saying that they continued with the bullying against you after they decided to keep the baby? Did I get that right?” Leanne would nod. “Oh my God… That is so fucking awful, I’m so sorry… Then what’s the point? What are they even trying to achieve? Oh my God…” and hug her again. “You’d do that for me?”, she’d ask, almost in disbelief. “To keep you safe, after I get you out of here? Yeah, I would. You deserve it! Honestly, you deserve to get spoiled so much when we’re out of here!”, and we’d just smile and laugh at each other so much in that moment. She’d say “Thank you!” with a big smile, and I’d say “Of course!”
I'd ask her if there's any evidence of the baptism, and she'd tell me about the tape of it that was shown in the season 1 finale, where George and May showed up in the background, and that's how they knew they were gonna show up soon.
https://preview.redd.it/ym15sb48301d1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=4755713239115181f0d74c712bfbc7ddf0a9f14e
And I'd see an opportunity to help her there, because this proves that George and May are still alive, that they faked their deaths. In the season 2 premiere, of course, when Dorothy claimed that May was in her house while showing the police her old news segment where she was reporting about May's likely death, Dorothy sounded crazy to the police,
https://preview.redd.it/3mz45xy9301d1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=fb4b3fd9db46ed9267e4d0f178b4ec00b2ea8a01
but if we showed them the tape of George and May showing up less than three weeks ago, then not only would there be a second witness (Leanne) swearing that they saw May, but the police would have proof, and we could have the police go up against the Church of Lesser Saints and prosecute them and lock them up for their heinous crimes and abuse, and if successful, Leanne could finally be safe from them. I wouldn't know much about them yet because Leanne hasn't told me much, but when I suggest that, she'd almost laugh on shock and the joyous thought of maybe not having to be afraid of them anymore at some point, and that would make me smile and say "Let's do it! Big task, I know, but let’s do it!" I'd ask her if she knows where the tape is, and she'd say it's probably among the other DVDs in the living room or still in the DVD player. I'd tell her that when I sneak out of the house whenever that's hopefully gonna happen, I'll take the tape with me, which is when she tells me to please also take Dorothy's news tape from March 11, 2011 with me (the tape of the pageant where she first met Dorothy). I'd ask her why, and she'd tell me she's gonna tell me another day. She'd tell me I can watch it when I got it, and I'd say okay to that.
https://preview.redd.it/laugwe4c301d1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=c541fb92132d0a42e697923234e2f834af6e1555
Leanne and me would make the most of the time in the attic until either
  1. She will be let out for a few hours, and I can sneak out, get the DVDs, and prepare everything to rescue her, get her to safety, and alert the authorities, or
  2. We will have to call the police from the attic when we run out of rations.
For now, we'd eat half of that day's rations (including some tomato soup), and then, I'd do something to lift her up after all that terrible stuff that happened and these heavy conversations. I'd show her a lot of music on my phone and introduce her to that part of my world a little bit 😊 Wanting to show her some music, I’d ask her what kind of music she’s into, and she’d say she doesn’t really know any specific music because the Church of Lesser Saints didn’t allow music because anything that feels good is a temptation to them…
https://preview.redd.it/pf6j9vgf301d1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=1c780bdf397f3f5b1369f751b0b2a87d3873c1e3
I’d be like “That’s horrible… They didn’t even let you listen to songs?” Leanne would be like “That’s probably all really strange to you”, and I’d say “No, it’s really not. I mean, it’s pretty awful that they put you through that, but it’s far from something unrelatable for me. My parents are Christian, and growing up, all the music I knew was Christian music. It wasn’t, like, explicitly forbidden or anything, but until 2008, when I got into middle school - fifth grade for us, I only knew one single song that wasn’t Christian, and I only knew it because it played over the end credits of a movie I saw in the theater with my father. I listened to it a lot of years later after I’ve researched what it’s called, and it wasn’t actually that great because I’ve gotten to know so much other music since, but yeah, religiously speaking, I had a really hard time growing up, which I didn’t even realize until I came back from America”. We’d just look at each other for a second and realize without words just how much we can relate to each other in this regard. I’d be like “I think we just opened up another bottomless barrel. God, we got so much to talk about!”, and we’d just laugh for a moment because of how understood we feel by each other now!
I’d suggest finally listening to some music. My YouTube channel about it didn’t exist at the time, but I have a passion for the Eurovision Song Contest (I can’t stand the EBU, the organization that runs the whole thing, but at the time of this story, in December 2022, I didn’t have a problem with it yet) Opening up Spotify on my phone, I’d think what songs from it she might like, and instinctually, I’d think she’s probably never heard anything like Eastern European modern folk music before, which would make me think that she’d probably really like Željko Joksimović’s entries (he wrote and performed Serbia & Montenegro 2004, and Serbia 2012, and he also wrote Bosnia & Herzegovina 2006, Serbia 2008, and Montenegro 2015), and I’d take out my dual AirPod adapter (please tell me if such a device actually exists, because I really want one lol) and put on “Lejla” by Hari Mata Hari (Bosnia & Herzegovina 2006). This is the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyB09CWhzb4
She’d listen with intrigue. The beautiful instrumental intro, the many unfamiliar instruments, the rich melody, the emotional expressiveness, and how it’s in a language she doesn’t understand. She’s heard nothing like it before, and she’d love it! After I explain Eurovision to her, I’d tell her it’s one of my favorite entries ever and ask her if she wants to hear more, and she’d emphatically say yes! I’d show her the other entries I already mentioned (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgBJjzivCc4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sn3TKoPeA0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48_wOw1SLyg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnrTDS85rC8
Honestly, we'd enjoy these moments so much, and she'd want to hear more and more, she’s known nothing like this kind of music. Considering how she likes the jazz and popera music the Turners got playing sometimes, I think she’d love these songs. I'd show her more music, like the Netherlands 2022 ("De diepte" by S10, which I think would be her favorite entry ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7NyzU1ob_M ), and a lot more, and in the middle of this horrible situation we're in, we'd have such a great and happy time listening to all this music!
After a while of listening to a lot of music together while sitting close together shoulder-to-shoulder, we’d get talking again. She’d wanna know more about my religious background.
Side note, I’m gonna be pretty honest about what I think here, but this is not exactly the kind of show that attracts fundamentalists or religiously intolerant people, so you probably won’t have a problem with it.
I'd tell her my parents are specifically Protestant Christians, and they are crazy fundamentalists whose version of their faith was beyond hateful to so many people. I'd tell her that while my faith was already waning, I switched to Catholic Christianity (I’d tell her that I made the change because I thought they were right about some core issues in the faith, but in retrospect, I’ve realized what a complete mess the Bible is, that it contradicts itself at every turn, and that what you think about any specific issue really depends on where you look, and what explanations you come up with to dismiss the rest), but about a year later, I left Christianity behind. I lost my faith in the New Testament first, so I became a Noahide for a while (I'd tell her what that means, it's basically what Judaism would like someone who isn't a Jew to do because there's no obligation to convert and join the Jewish people) because I still believed in God and Tanakh (the Old Testament), but after getting really deep into the Mitzvot (Law of Moses), I was so disgusted by God and the horrible things he expects of people and does to them (particularly Deuteronomy 22:28-29…), how cruel and oppressive he is all throughout scripture, and so, I then believed for a while that there's SOME higher power out there, but that it's not Yahweh (since I don't believe in Tanakh anymore, I have no problem saying that name), but with the radio silence I received from whatever higher power is out there, and how the explanations I made for myself to make myself belief in its existence faded, I became an Atheist and just left it all behind. It was a gradual process for me.
Hearing that for the first time would be so therapeutic for her with how she's had doubts in her faith for a long time, coming closer and closer to losing it completely (I mean, the whole reason she’s in the show in the first place is because she physically left the Church of Lesser Saints, knowing she’d be hunted down. People tend to forget that when talking about Leanne’s religiosity). I'd ask her what she believes now, and she'd say she doesn't really know. She's struggling so much with how she sees God because of all the things he's willing to put her through and the things that are done in his name in the Church of Lesser Saints that she still believes he's connected to, and she just wants to let go of it all sometimes and finally defy God, but she's afraid. I'd tell her that she doesn't need to be afraid. When I found out that Jesus and Christianity and all of it are fake, it was really hard for me at first, and it hurt like crazy knowing that it was all a lie, but that it will get better quickly after that because then, you'll realize that life after religion is life free from religion and its crazy rules and nonsensical restrictions for the sake of restrictions, restrictions for the sake of pleasing someone that would never do the same for you and won’t even reply to you.
I know what Leanne is about to tell me because I've seen the rest of the show, but she'd tell me about what happened when she died in the fire. I'd be like "What? What fire?", and because it’s not the point, she'd quickly say that her house burnt down when she was six years old with her, her mother, and her father in it, and that she died and was resurrected by the Church of Lesser Saints, and that's how she joined them. I'd say like "Oh my God... Oh my God, I'm so sorry" and just hug her…
Giving her comfort about all these things she's never talked about with anyone, that makes me happy to imagine, helping her heal from her wounds! I just want nothing but to make her feel better and make her heal 😔
And then, she'd say what she wanted to say, that when she died, she went to Heaven and saw other people that died there, so how can God not be real? After asking about some of the details, I'd say that that doesn't mean that Christianity is true. She saw a place where people who died had another life, but that exists in so many religions, and maybe whatever created that place didn't tell people about it, so it might not even be any religion that is practiced. And most importantly, she went to Heaven before the Church of Lesser Saints ever knew her, so if outsiders go to Heaven, then they can't be the truth.
(I don’t think that the Church of Lesser Saints is the truth in-universe because of that, to be frank. Also because Julian went to Heaven as an Atheist in “Goose”).
That would blow her mind, and she'd say she'd have to think about that, and I'd say sure, like, when I first had the realizations that doomed my faith, I had to think about a lot of it at first as well, it took quite a while to unwind. And I'd tell her that in Tanakh, Heaven is never a place where people go after they die anyway, but where God, the angels, and Satan reside (and Satan is something completely different in Tanakh, not the supervillain of the universe). Later, Christianity just came along and introduced Heaven as a place where people go after they die, and it doesn't line up with Tanakh at all because it's a lie. And Tanakh is just as fake as the New Testament anyway, so whatever she saw is not the concept of Heaven, neither the Jewish nor the Christian concept. Considering how close Leanne already was to losing it before I came along, this would really get her thinking, and this whole conversation would really deepen how much we understand each other on such a deep level, and how close we feel! ❤️ And not only would I make HER feel the love she's never received and help her so much in life in so many ways, but having someone understand ME that well and finding her, omg, she would lift ME up so much just by being who she is! Honestly, Leanne is like the person who, if she were real, would be the one who'd understand me like no one else, and you can see how much in love I am with her just through a screen, now imagine we'd actually be there in real life, that's the most wonderful thing ever to imagine, for both of us!
Side note lol: In the show, it's clear that Leanne likes boys, but I honestly think that my headcanon where she slowly falls in love with me (a woman) would work. Leanne's sexuality is enough of a blank slate of the show for this to work. There's no indication that she likes girls in that way, but also absolutely nothing to contradict it. It's also shown how she explores her sexuality for the first time in season 1 once she comes to the Turners after running away from the Church of Lesser Saints. When Dorothy grabs Sean, Leanne sees it and later imitates it on Julian, showing how she is exploring these concepts for the first time, something that was clearly forbidden at the Church of Lesser Saints. If the writers made her fall in love with a woman in the show, it would have worked and been really believable because of all this. Leanne's sexuality is an almost completely blank slate. Just wanted to say that ahaha…
We still don’t know when the next time will be that someone will come up into the attic and “give” Leanne a few hours or less out of there, presenting an opportunity for me to sneak out and get the plan in motion to free Leanne with less risk than there would be if we called the police right now with us unarmed.
And we’d listen to some more music. A little bit into us listening to music, I’d create a Spotify playlist right there, going through my liked songs and creating a long playlist of music I think she might like, with her right next to me, seeing that I’m creating that playlist for her! And she’d find that really sweet 😊 I actually created it lol: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Y8Skhmf72ElUFKPxoT4e4?si=f9ceac038fa84f61
Giving her another hint. I’d show her pictures of Eurovision 2017, when it was in my city Kyiv. I’d also show her the picture I took with Blanche from Belgium at the opening ceremony back then and tell Leanne that she was my biggest celebrity crush of my life, that I was so in love with her, another reminder that’s testing the waters 😁😊❤️ And she’d find that really sweet! I’d wanna show her the livestream where the moment is forever immortalized (in the story, not in real life, which would be here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPaJxwFFZGk ), only to realize that it’s blocked in America lol, “but anyway, that was at Mariyinskyy Palats in Kyiv, it’s like a red carpet ceremony that’s done every year during rehearsal week, the week before the actual contest, and I went there wearing my best dress and best makeup and… [laughing because I’m so embarrassed] I gave her red roses with a card inside that has some text and my phone number on it, painted in the colors of the rainbow flag to be as explicit as possible” Leanne would smile big time, and she’d ask “Did she reply?”, and I’d be like “She messaged me after the contest, thanking me and saying that she has a boyfriend, and I wished her all the best, and that was it. Doesn’t really matter though. I like to look back on it all, but I’m not interested in her anymore. Her political views are kind of yikes anyway, we’d only argue because of that” (none of this happened in reality, we never actually met).
After a tiny bit of silence while sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, I’d ask her “You ever really been in love?”, and almost giggling, she’d be like “I don’t know. I just… I don’t know. Let’s talk about something else. This was in your city?”, and I’d say yes, and that Eurovision is usually held in the winning country of the previous year, and Ukraine won in 2016, so Kyiv it was in 2017. She’d carefully ask me if I came to America because of the war, and with some sighing, I’d tell her yes. She’d ask if I wanna talk about it, and I’d say “A little bit is okay”. I’d tell her it’s been going on in the East of Ukraine since 2014, but when the full-scale invasion began in February (this takes place in December of 2022), they bombed Kyiv, and troops moved toward Kyiv really fast. I had a complete mental breakdown for days. It was only after two days that I could snap out of it, and I packed my things and decided to flee the country… I was just so scared, I knew I wouldn’t survive mentally or physically if I stayed, and I definitely didn’t wanna live under R_ssian occupation. I hitchhiked to the city of Bila Tserkva south of Kyiv, took trains to Poland, and flew to America from there. I’d tell her “I lived here before and really liked it, like I said, it was the best year of my life, so that’s where I instinctually decided to go. I definitely didn’t wanna stay in Poland”.
I’d probably really start crying when I tell her this because it’s such a painful memory, and Leanne would slowly start to hug me (physical affection is something new for her, she’s still figuring out how to do these things, and that’s okay), and I’d just take a sudden pause from crying for a moment and look up to her (I’m four inches shorter lol), seeing her look at me, and we’re almost realizing our mutual empathy and understanding without words in that moment! She’d say at the end how scary that must have been and if I was alone the entire time. It would honestly mean so much to me, her comforting me, especially about these difficult moments, and I’d tell her that I was alone the entire way… I’d tell her my sisters and nieces live in Poland now, and that my father is still in Ukraine. She’d ask about my mother, and I’d say that as far as I know, she’s still there, but I haven’t spoken to her since 2017, and I never will again. She’s absolutely destroyed my life and put me through so much trauma that I can never forgive her for. Leanne would go “Me, too” (about her own mother), and we’d both giggle a bit in that moment because we get how alike we are in that experience, having had our mothers wreck both of our lives, and how crazy it is that we’re here right now just talking about all this so openly.
It would be rather late by that point, and we’d start eating the other half of that day’s rations. Leanne would go straight for the canned tomato soup again, and I’d tell her how cute I find it that she loves it so much! She’d smile and react non-verbally in her typical way that is so hard to put into words, and I tell her how cute I find the little ways she reacts to things with her face! She’d smile some more and then say “Most people just think I’m weird” with a less happy tone and face, but I’d say “People find the most stupid things to complain about, and people like you and me who don’t fit in, we’re easy targets. The things about you that people find weird, I’d rather call them peculiar, and I like them! These little things about you are so cute for real!”, and she’d really smile and just look at me for a moment.
https://preview.redd.it/fhn0kcd1401d1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=8b28057c33607827da751b6a008dbde2f63f1c71
I’d be like “What?” (in a happy and curious tone), and she’d be like “I like it, too when you do this with your eyes!”. I’d roll them over toward her and say “You mean like this?” and make her laugh while she says yes, then roll them back and forth and ask “Or like this?”, and we’d laugh even more!
We’d hear a sound from downstairs and quiet down pretty much immediately as the reality of our situation kicks in again and we know that we can’t have the Turners hear us, or we’re both screwed. We’d wait until we’re sure they’re not coming into the attic and only THEN, we’d continue to talk. She’d just say “I’m scared”, and I’d say “Me, too”, and we’d just hold each other before we eat the rest of the small meal. I’d be like “Like I said yesterday, I’m almost as obsessed with Ben & Jerry’s as you are. Almost! I really gotta get you some when we leave here! In fact, I promise you I will! I wanna see the reaction on your face the first time you taste it!”, and she’d say “I’d like that very much!” with a smile!
And back on a more somber note, I’d ask her how long they usually leave her in here for… She’d say that the last time was a whole weekend, so three nights… I’d say “Let’s hope it’s sooner than that this time…” We’d make plans for how I’m gonna sneak out the next time that happens, like, specifically. I’d tell her that when they let her out of the attic and leave the door unlocked as a result, I’d wait a minute and wait for everyone to get downstairs. I’d tell her to give me an audible signal that it’s safe to sneak one floor further downstairs, like saying something loudly or kicking something. I’d then sneak onto the third floor, and then the second one, and wait for Mrs. Turner to go back to the third floor and the attic. I’d then sneak into the living room, get the DVDs, and go into the basement, where I’d go through the side door. She’d confirm my question that it leads to the garden behind the kitchen. I’d say I’ll hide there until I can see that no one’s in the kitchen. She’d confirm that the code in the back is the same as the one at the front door - 0603. And I say I’d then leave through the back door, into the park, take the bus home, take a shower, write down everything I’ve seen in a letter meant for the police, send it to my online friend Liam, and tell him to alert the Philadelphia police if I’m not back online confirming I’m safe within 24 hours, and to not read the letter until then. The rest of the plan is to then fully load and get my gun, get to the Turner house by bike, have a large taxi wait one block away, and then force the Turners to let me in by displaying my gun and disengaging the safety lever right in front of whoever’s at the door, and explain to everyone that I am there to get Leanne, and that I’ll call the police and report them right then and there if they refuse to cooperate in any way. If Dorothy tries to do anything to stop me like she probably will, I’d tell her that Sean and Julian know where Jericho is (I mean, they do, because Jericho is dead and they refuse to wake Dorothy up), that they knew this entire time, and that’s that’s the reason Leanne is not talking, because there is nothing she can do. I’d add something like “And they’ve been lying to you this entire time, all while YOU put Leanne through the most disgusting abuse imaginable! I’m getting her out of here right now!”
Leanne would say that Dorothy wouldn’t believe me because this sounds so different from the version of events she believes in. I’d ask when Jericho died, and Leanne would tell me August 26. I’d go “Then I’ll tell Mrs. Turner ‘ Here’s what I want you to do after I leave, Mrs. Turner. If you want to find out where Jericho is, there’s a pretty straightforward way for you to do it. You go look up death records in Philadelphia from August 26 this year. There, you will find something really weird. You’ll know exactly what I mean when you see it. Then you ask these two lying motherfuckers about it until they tell you the truth! They will keep on lying like they have this entire time, but you push them until they give you an explanation that explains what you’ll see among the records. Do it right after I leave, you can do that online! August 26 this year! And when they try to keep you from doing that, that’s how you’ll know I’m telling the truth!” I think Leanne would be really impressed by what I’m saying and the sheer boldness of it. I’d look over at her, and with a heavy smile, I’d say “Of course” and embrace her again.
And I’d tell Leanne that if I can’t find the baptism tape, I’ll take all the tapes that aren’t news tapes or movies and whatever disc is in the player, if there is one there. Leanne would tell me to make sure the police can’t find the news tape, and I’d say “Sure. I’ll hide it somewhere at home after I watch it.” Then, Leanne would tell me to please take her Bible and the porcelain baby and card from the cake I gave her with me
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(in the real show, she actually keeps her Bible even after she loses her faith, probably because she needs it for some of her powers) because she doesn’t know if she can take it with her herself, depending on how things go on the day, so she can be sure that she doesn’t lose either, and of course, I’d promise her. I’d also say that I’m really glad that the porcelain baby from the cake means so much to her now, just like I intended, to make her happy 😊
And I’d say that when I’m done saying what I’m planning to say to Dorothy when I go rescue Leanne, I’ll tell the Turners to empty their pockets and put everything on the table and tell them to go into the bathroom and lock it. I’d stay right there to make sure they’re not getting out, then call Leanne on the Samsung phone I already gave her and tell her to get whatever she needs, put on some clothes from the attic that don’t make her look suspicious outside (because if she walked outside with me in sleepwear while I got a gun, that would make it look as if I was kidnapping her), and come downstairs. As soon as she’s past the bathroom door, I’d unlock it, and we’d walk backwards together while still pointing the guns in the direction of the Turners. I’d tell Dorothy again to go look up the death records right now (the timing is important to keep them from calling the police immediately, so we can get to the police first), and we’d get out of the house, run to the taxi, and drive off, and call the police from inside the taxi. Leanne would ask me where we’re gonna ask the taxi to take us, and I’d suggest maybe a hotel in Allentown, where we’ll be safe from the Turners, and because we probably need to stay in Pennsylvania, so the police can come to us without leaving their jurisdiction. I’d hold Leanne’s hand tight and promise her everything’s gonna be okay, that I’ll make damn sure that she’ll be safe!
Since we have no idea when the Turners will let her out of the attic again, we’d clean up immediate giveaways that that someone else is there (mostly just meaning we’d put the rest of the food in my backpack and hide my backpack). She’d then give me the porcelain baby, the card, and her Bible for safekeeping, and I’d put it in my pocket. We’d then take videos to document everything that’s in the attic, showing that we are indeed locked up, to keep as evidence for the police.
We’d then get ready for bed. Again, we have to share a mattress and covers. I’d insist this time that I sleep on the side of the mattress that’s closer to the stairs leading up into the attic in case Dorothy decides to assault Leanne again, so I’m in the way. And when we lay down, because we still only have one mattress and covers for the both of us, we’d actually be really close together physically, and before falling asleep, we’d just look at each other again and again and smile every time we open our eyes and catch each other just looking at the other 😊

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2024.05.17 10:05 MYSFITS_OFFICIAL Children of Sol 59

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Anglestan
Augustus 5, 1923
Facility 9, Mancheston
Colonel Jacobs
His hands flew through the folders General Jorgenson and Colonel Thatcher had. There were dozens of them, stacked upon each other all filed in alphabetical order. It had only been a few days since he had woken up from his coma and visited his home— now his mother’s grave. He clenched his fists at the thought. The grief and rage threatened to bubble and spill over once again. He took a deep breath and dragged out the exhale, almost to the point where he had emptied out his lungs.
He was the only one with clearance, and so he couldn’t disclose any of what he learned with his team. They would simply have to trust him and his judgment. Which he was sure they would do. His hands went over one of the folders skimming through it. There were multiple secret projects, but the ones with the most notes were Project S.T.A.R, Project L.U.N.A.R.I, Project R.E.V.I.V.E, Project D.A.W.N, and Project T.E.M.P.L.A.R.
The colonel decided to start with the most notes and papers. Project D.A.W.N.
He skimmed through the notes, reading through some of the details and highlighted words. Project D.A.W.N, the espionage project Thatcher had started placed two spies in Verlin who were to report directly to a Crescent general named Sienna Moretti who was apparently on humanity’s side.
So I was right. There was an espionage element. With the recent attacks and Thatcher’s death, however, it’s safe to assume that it had somehow failed. Either they got found out or they betrayed us. Both seem very likely, but if they were found out, it would be possible that they had died.
He read through all of it before setting the folder down. There were no new notes recently. He sighed and assumed that Project DAWN was a failure. Whether or not the agents were still alive and well, it was too risky to check if they had been compromised. It was better to assume that they had been and cut all contact. The only way to find out now was to go there himself and check. I can’t contact them again. There’s no telling if it would still be Moretti or the agents who would see my messages. It’s a big risk, and judging by the state of things, best to assume it failed.
He picked up another folder. This one had the label ‘under development’ on the folder. Project Templar. He opened the folder and was instantly met with a blueprint and drawings of a massive bipedal machine. It looked humanoid with strange proportions and was supposed to be standing at an impressive 30 meters, or 100 feet. The Titanic Engine Mech for Personal Land Assault and Reconnaissance.
It was apparently a joint project with the Church of Sol, utilizing new and advanced technologies he hadn’t heard of. A 203mm Gatling cannon on one arm, while the other had three different weapons. A massive firestarter that utilized a new type of fuel mixture that could theoretically spew flames a kilometer away using a high-pressure nozzle. The fuel was ignited using an electrical spark. The second weapon was a high-powered light weapon that fired a single powerful beam of focused light that was even further amplified by layers of focusing lenses that could increase its output several times. Its third weapon was… a dust domina?
Mark read through the specifications of the so-called ‘sand cannon’ weapon. It was a massive cannon that accelerated tiny particles several times. Each particle was to be electrically charged, and it would travel at immense speeds. Near impossible speeds. The resulting impact of a microscopic particle at such speeds would be enough to form a small crater and punch through armor like it was nothing. This weapon would fire multiple at the same time, which could literally eat away at anything on the opposing end.
In terms of secondary weapons, the titan had two missile launch chambers in front of its shoulder each containing about 40 missiles, and two massive howitzer cannons on top of it. Both are 800mm in caliber. It had massive stumpy legs that served as bunkers for a small platoon on each leg. Each leg had machine dominas and 155mm cannons. Its chassis held two nuclear reactors inside providing for its power and weaponry. Its armor was the thickest and most ridiculous he’d ever read. Two meters of heavy steel armor.
How far are we in terms of technology? This thing looks like it came out of an H.G. Wells sci-fi novel. He thought, shaking his head. It was over the top, but there was no denying its combat capabilities. If it was already under-developed then it must be the first prototype. This has already been approved. Guess I better see it for myself later and check how it's coming along. Construction apparently started just a few months before the invasion.
Next was project L.U.N.A.R.I. It was a project involving Six. “Huh,” he said, continuing to read on.
The Light Undone: Nocturnal’s Adaptive Resistance Initiative. As he read further, his eyes widened. The reason why Six was so special wasn’t just because of her immunity to all strigoi weaknesses, but because of her impressive ability to turn any true born strigoi like her. She could transfer her strain like any other strigoi and transform them into a version of hers. It however only seemed to work for naturally born strigoi. The new species of ‘half-breeds’ were called ‘Blessed Children’ as Thatcher had coined in the folder.
The plan was to turn all willing true-born hemolite strigoi into these blessed children. Able to withstand the sun. Immune to silver. Free from the dependency on blood. They could remove all the weaknesses of the strigoi and after the war— make it possible to integrate them into society as normal citizens living on the surface. The project folder also made mentions of a city-wide draft in Dante and highlighted the possibility of turning all Dantenite true born strigoi into these blessed children and renaming them as ‘Lunari’. A mix of the dark and the light. The light of Sol reflected in the children of the night.
“Thatcher, what the fuck have you been up to…” Mark whispered to himself.
While it was true that it could help in the war effort by utilizing Six and the dantenite population, it would also invite some unforeseen problems and consequences. Would humanity be okay with the Lunari? Would the world even be ready for them? Strigoi who were immune to the sun. They wouldn’t be impossible to kill, but they would be immensely more powerful if we were to take away their inherent weaknesses. This is a gamble. Its gain would only be seen during the war period, but its unintended effects on society could be catastrophic.
He frowned, setting the folder down. It was obviously Thatcher’s main plan; seeing as all her moves could be traced to the path of the eventual completion of this project. It seemed dangerous in the long run, but the duskwalkers and dantenites had been monumental in the war effort. Maybe it was the time the world started to accept them more. Isolation and segregation was definitely not the way to disperse fears and foster understanding.
If Thatcher thinks this is the next step forward… then I’ll put my faith in her plans.
Next up was Project S.T.A.R, or the Superior Tech and Adaptive Resistance. An upgrade to the current hemolite weapons and gear by using new researched studies. The Starfire Pattern Domina. The SFD-23 This thing features a new loading system and magazine, ditching the rotating cylinder most domina used, or the rotating helix magazine design of the current hemolite standard BM-16 domina.
The new domina had its magazine like a box… a strange design but it was certainly easier to handle than the bulky cylinders the helical mags used. In terms of ergonomics, it was smoother and fit more. Its placement however was on top of the domina, just above the barrel. Most of the weapon were to be made of lightweight polymers and the barrel itself were to be crafted out of reinforced aluminium. In addition to that, it had a 10-inch bayonet attached to it.
There were other new things as well, such as the composition of the bullet. Looking at the conceptual cross-section designs, Mark read through its description and how it would function. A .308 cased telescoped bullet covered in a silver jacket with break-away petals surrounding the main body. Inside the jacket was a penetrator core that was to be made of depleted uranium. It had a small amount of incendiary compound and… powdered white phosphorus behind an explosive compound. The thin silver jacket would deform and trigger the explosive compound inside the body. It would blow up causing massive internal damage and release the incendiary materials into the body with the flecks of powdered white phosphorus. The penetrator core could still potentially keep going and hit a second target, or punch through heavily armored targets.
Part of the new Project S.T.A.R was overhauling the armor and gear of not just the Hemolites but the Hunters as well. Starfire Mk 1. Carapace Armor. Carapace? It looked like plates of steel covered in a rubberized coat. It was supposed to be slipped on over the original hemolite body armor. It added a spring-loaded wrist blade to the gauntlet, a thicker coat made of resistant materials, and added extra padding for the knees, shoulders, and elbows.
However, the hemolites weren’t the only ones mentioned in the folder. It was to serve the Hunters as well. “Hunters…” Mark said. “August’s group is part of this initiative too.” He flipped through some of the pages. There were blueprints and drawings of an armored suit. A mechanized suit even smaller and more compact than the jotunn units. The Mark 1 STR battlesuit. It was supposed to hug the wearer’s frame and increase their overall power. It was supposed to be built of titanium alloy and a heavy steel frame with composite armor. It had a cooling system, life support systems that could recycle bodily fluids, and an exoskeleton frame that could increase the wearer’s strength and speed.
However, the real eye-opener was Thatcher’s notes. She had been ranting about the new human evolution, and how the Hunters were the first of the ‘Solari’. She wanted to enhance human genetics and push past the peak of human ability to reach greater heights. Implants and restructuring of the anatomy to make it more efficient. Using the blood of the goddess herself. She must have lost it. These are the ramblings of a lunatic. At least… if she didn’t mention the goddess. Why was the goddess important here?
The writings ended with the words: “See Project R.E.V.I.V.E, for more details.”
Mark eyed the final folder. His hands shook as he reached out to take it. Flipping it open, his hands nearly dropped it in shock. The goddess Helena was alive. There were pictures of her naked form floating in a giant tube of fluid. There were more of Thatcher’s ramblings and excited rants about the possibilities of such a discovery. Resurrection, Enhancement, and Veneration: Implementation of Visionary Evolution.
The goddess is alive?! According to the file, she’s currently under the Cathedral of New Lundun. Not only that, but the file also detailed the extraterrestrial tech that lay beneath the cathedral. So the goddess is real and she’s— not really a goddess, but rather, a vampyr who created herself a human body to stand in the sun, and decided that it wants to be on humanity’s side… what the fuck.
Mark’s frown and confusion only increased as he read on. Thatcher’s notes seemed to nearly descend into madness as she had written about creating ‘the first hundred’, alluding to the 100 members of the Hunters division. Her plan was to revive the goddess, and with her help and expertise in genetics— use her DNA to transform the Hunters into demi-humans. Super soldiers. Literal children of the goddess Helena. They would then don the STR battlesuits, the first of the superhuman warriors to defend humanity. Solari.
Their lightning-speed advancement into technology was heralded by studying the alien tech, which deepened the understanding of physics and engineering. Nuclear technologies, chemical warfare, new material sciences, the mechs, and walkers, it was spearheaded by trying to reverse-engineer technology centuries ahead of our own… for the past hundred years. It wasn’t completely stolen, however. More or less borrowed ideas that had been made into our own with our own designs and implements. Still, the speed at which the Church and the military had deciphered such advancements all by themselves was… impressive to say the least.
Still, the fact that the goddess was alive, and could be brought back was big news. Checking the file for details, he found that the previous general, Jorgenson, had already approved this project. It was their next step as soon as they returned from New Amsterdam; which never happened.
If Helena was alive, then she could end this war swiftly, or at the very least help greatly like she once did during the War of Darkness. Having the goddess back would throw a massive wrench in the Crescent’s plans. It would certainly be something they wouldn’t expect. Not even I expected this, since many sources say that the goddess had already ascended to watch over humanity, while conspiracy theorists claim she had died in battle and that the Church was worshiping a corpse. This could be the trick up our sleeves that no one would even consider.
The colonel quickly got up from his seat and gathered the main files he had read. He placed them in a bag and rushed outside of his office in Facility 9. He went over to a nearby room and flicked the lights on. “We need to go,” he said. In an instant seven hemolite soldiers got up from whatever they were doing and instantly stood in line.
“Sir! Whatever you need of us, sir,” the group said in unison.
They were Hemo-1. His former squad members. He had taken up Louis' suggestion that they be his personal security detail. It was a shame that he had basically placed the best hemolite team out of commission, but after all he had been through he convinced himself that he could be just a little selfish. He didn’t want to lose any more friends. Not on his watch. Not while he was in an office, and they were out fighting.
“We’re going to New Lundun. Better pack up, it’s going to be a long night.”
“Mark,” Olivia said.
Jacobs turned to her direction and gave her a nod.
“Colonel, sir, may I ask where in New Lundun?”
“Liv, you don’t need to do that with me. Please. I give all of you special permission,” the colonel groaned. “It’s so weird. I mean, ‘captain’ was bad enough, but now you’re acting like I’m an authority figure.”
“You… are, though,” Emma shrugged.
“I’m your friend, and Liv I’m literally your partner. Unless you have some kind of weird fetish, save it for later.”
Olivia grinned, shaking her head. “Duly noted!” she chirped.
“That’s better,” Mark chuckled. “Now come on, we have a cathedral to visit.”
“Uhh, I’m not sure if you noticed, but we’re kinda… strigoi?!” Louis groaned. “I’d burn the moment I step in that place! Plus, it’s coated in silver! Anything I even touch will give me burns!”
“Oh come on, Lou. You have fucking gloves on. As long as you’re not a clumsy dumbass you’ll be fine… oh wait.’
“Uh huh, just sayin’ what I think, boss.”
The group headed out and Mark said something on his radio. He then sat on the ground, making his joints pop. The rest of the squad shrugged and followed his example, sitting down on the grass and waiting for… nothing. Charles and Zach looked at each other in confusion. “Uh, sir?” they asked. “Aren’t we supposed to be heading out and traveling right now?”
“Oh yeah, we’re just waiting.”
“Foooor…?”
The colonel gave them a smirk as a loud noise began to make itself known. A hummingbird transport appeared out of the distance and stopped right above them, slowly descending into the grass. “Being colonel has its perks,” Mark said with a smile. He stood up and hopped inside the hummingbird as soon as it landed. “Come on now! We’ve got work to do! Last one aboard buys everyone food later!”
Emma zipped in before Mark could even finish his sentence, followed by Olivia, Phineas, Charles, Zach, and then Louis, who sadly took too long to process what the colonel said, and lagged behind.
“Aw, man! Fuck this shit.”
“Rules are rules, Lou. Prepare your wallet later.” Mark grinned.
With a smile, the colonel pulled Olivia to his side, who blushed for a moment before shaking her head. “Take us up! New Lundun Cathedral! How long would it take?” he asked the pilot.
“About an hour and a half!” The pilot replied. “Less if you want to get there as soon as possible!”
“Take your time! The night’s still young.”
The hummingbird started to lift up, taking them into the air. The group settled down in their seats and watched outside the open. Mark opened up a bag inside the hummingbird and took out some ear muffs built for a strigoi. Extremely loud noises were damaging for a strigoi’s enhanced hearing, so the military started implementing ear muffs for them after complaints from early deployments of the hemolite squads.
The trip didn’t take too long. In only an hour and twenty minutes they had arrived at the safe zone of New Lundun, heading straight for the cathedral. The night mass had just ended and people were leaving the cathedral. “Looks like we made it in perfect time!” Mark smiled. They hovered for a few minutes in the air before eventually landing down right in front of the statue of Helena.
As soon as they landed, the colonel and his group left the hummingbird. Mark instructed the pilot to wait for them. He went straight for the cathedral with his group following behind. He entered inside, clearing his throat. “Hello?”
“Well this is surely unexpected,” an old man said, walking up to greet them.
“Great Grandfather Aurelius. It’s uh, an honor.”
“Please. The honor is mine… I see you’re the new colonel. Yes, I’ve heard the news,” he said. “Would you mind telling me your name, young man? As well as your companions, if they feel so. I usually don’t allow duskwalkers here but, I have nothing against them. I’ll make an exception for your group.”
“Thank you, Great Grandfather,” Mark replied. “I am Colonel Mark Jacobs. These are my friends and security detail. Olivia, Zach, Phineas, Charles, Emma, and Louis.”
“I see, and what brings you here?”
“Since Thatcher’s demise, I was given access to her research and project folders upon taking up the title. I’ve learned about what’s under your cathedral,” Mark cleared his throat. “Would it be alright if we could see it? I’d like to check it for myself. Of course, under your permission and guidance, Great Grandfather.”
The church head looked from Mark to his companions. He pulled a slight frown and hummed. “Do these companions of yours have the clearance? Surely, we wish to keep our secrets hidden,” he said. Mark nodded.
“They do not have clearance to know what is in Thatcher’s folders and her findings,” the colonel nodded. “However, I give them permission to accompany me, and should they discover things for themselves, then you have my word and my trust that I can keep them from spilling state secrets.”
The Great Grandfather gave a short pause before ultimately relenting. “Very well,” he let out a sigh. “Follow me.”
Aurelius walked behind the altar and pulled the same lever, which opened the same staircase leading underground, where Jorgenson and Thatcher had once gone. “Over here, colonel,” he said. “I do not know you completely yet, but this is a big deal of trust I am giving you. Perhaps you would be the one to do things that Thatcher could not have.”
Mark nodded, he and his group followed the Great Grandfather down the staircase. It led down to a massive underground facility, with numerous priests, researchers, and scientists. Libraries, records, instruments, and artifacts of old. It was a treasure trove of learning.
“So,” Aurelius cleared his throat. “What would you like to know about?”
“This isn’t all of it,” Mark said. “Thatcher mentioned a living, breathing, Helena.”
His group behind him let out a soft gasp, but they tried their best to hide their surprise.
“Hm,” the Great Grandfather nodded. “Perceptive young man aren’t you? Very well.”
They were then led into another room, behind a set of heavy blast doors. If the whole group were trying to hide their surprise then, now they could barely contain it. Even the colonel stared awestruck at the things he had seen. Despite the near-magical objects around them, the true shock was the massive starship at the end of the hallway. “It’s impressive isn’t it?” Aurelius said. “All of the goddess’ artifacts and items at our disposal, to use and learn from, to integrate into our own. This is why Anglestan is the most powerful nation in the UHT in terms of development. When it comes to industry, however, that would go to the UNA. But we share our secrets with them. All our advancements are handed to them first before any other nation.”
“This is all amazing, Great Grandfather,” Mark replied. “But this is not what I’m here for.”
“No, it’s not.” Aurelius nodded.
He led them to another room, one that was sterilized and sported advanced machinery. Things that Mark had never even seen. There were screens with luminous green texts that appeared in front of it. Large panels with numerous keys, levers, and dials. Graphs of all sorts and beeping monitors. In the center, was the very thing he had come all this way to confirm. A large cylinder filled with liquid, sporting tubes and pipes connecting to its base. Inside was a woman of large proportion. Four arms, two legs, and six wings. In her bare chest was a symbol of the sun that seemed to glow dimly.
“There she is, there’s you goddess.”
Neither Mark nor his group spoke a word. He walked up to it, eyeing the woman inside. It really is her. Down to the last details. Golden hair, six limbs, six folded wings, and she looks massive. Probably as big as her statue just outside the cathedral. This is it. The very goddess in the history books, the one spoken about in legends and the one worshiped in the Churches of Sol.
“Can we free her?” he said.
The Great Grandfather nearly choked on his spit upon hearing those words. “Free her?! That could kill her! We don’t even understand this technology, let alone control it!” he said pointing at the panels. “The machines you see here are the best and most advanced we have based on what we can reverse engineer, but even then, the consequences of tampering with its functions may be disastrous!”
“I understand, Great Grandfather,” Mark said. “But we are in a dire situation, and the goddess may be our hope of turning this around. Whatever secrets of her tech that you don’t understand, wouldn’t she be able to teach us directly? What good is she floating around in Sol knows what?”
“That is her miraculous healing fluid. She had already built this contraption centuries ago in case anything were to happen to her, that her body’s natural healing could not sustain,” Aurelius said. “During the War of Darkness, Helena was struck with a weapon so deadly, her very cells began to tear away. The Reaper. Dealt to her by Absolem the progenitor. Her flesh was peeling from her body, and she began to decay whilst she still breathed. She entered this contraption and gave strict instructions to the Great Grandfather at the time, not to interrupt the healing process. The machine that monitored her, however, began to fail over time.”
“So this… these screens and panels…”
“Is only what functions we can understand. We took it upon ourselves to rebuild and study it the best we could. What we have right now is only a cheap imitation of a technology we do not fully comprehend,” he said. “It took us decades to even figure out the fundamentals and create a working prototype of this machine. By some miracle, the goddess’ healing process had remained even while we replaced components of technology ahead of ours.”
“But you know how to free her, don’t you?”
“I… yes.”
“Great Grandfather Aurelius,” Mark began. “We can end this war. Imagine what we could do with the goddess fighting on our side. We could advance even further, we could finally end the bloodshed, and we can show humanity that there is still hope. Imagine how people all over the world would feel seeing as their goddess has returned.”
“I wish I had your enthusiasm,” Aurelius said. “But it is simply too risky. The Church’s duty is to protect Helena and her legacy. We keep her alive, literally and figuratively. She nearly died the last time she was involved in a war. Would you risk losing the goddess?”
“Would you risk humanity losing?”
The Great Grandfather fell silent, looking back at Helena floating inside the tube, then to the panels that controlled it. He frowned and let out a long sigh. “The goddess said that we should not interrupt it. That it would end as soon as it was finished. Maybe we should trust her words.”
Mark shook his head. “I don’t spot a single blemish on the goddess. Not a single scratch,” he argued. “You said it yourself that the machine had begun to fail and you replaced components. How would you know that the thing that’s supposed to wake her up was not tampered with? Think about it. What you may think is a useless piece may be integral to the whole machine. Or maybe your replacements were not up to the task. Just because nothing’s happened doesn’t mean its functions have remained whole.”
“Young man, we simply cannot gamble with the goddess’ life here.”
“Have you no faith? Great Grandfather?”
Aurelius stepped back in shock. Mark’s companions looked at each other, clearly surprised as well. “Mark… I don’t think we should keep arguing with—” Olivia tried to say.
“No,” the colonel said firmly, cutting her off. “Great Grandfather Aurelius, do you think that Helena will not be able to pull through if we wake her? How long has it been? A century? How much longer will we wait? She may be immortal but humans aren’t.”
“I'm sorry, but the chances of failure are too high. The probability of her—”
“I don’t care about the probability! Would you rather put your faith in a statistic?!” Mark raised his voice. “I lost my mother to this war! My friends! My job! My eye, and almost my life! I’ve put mine on the line out there! You don’t know what it’s like out there! Was my mother’s death just a probability too? Was she just a statistic to you?! That as long as the numbers are good, no matter how many are lost, we are ‘winning’?!”
“Mark—!”
“No, Liv! He needs to know what’s really going on out there!” he spat. “Great Grandfather, with all due respect, but you don’t have a damn clue what it’s like to be in the field. You’re a man of faith, aren’t you? Take a risk. Everyone else has.”
Aurelius stood there, dumbfounded. He bit the inside of his cheeks and clenched his fists. “For your insolence, I would have had you flogged and stripped of your rank,” he glared at the young colonel. However, his features slowly softened, letting out a soft sigh. “But I have never seen such conviction. Mighty is your faith.”
The Great Grandfather moved over to the panels and reached into his robe, pulling out from around his neck a key with the symbol of the sun. He inserted it into the machine and turned. A beep sounded, right before Aurelius pulled a lever. In an instant, the fluid inside the glass chamber began to drain out into the tubes under it. Slowly, the chamber emptied and all that was left was the nude form of the goddess sitting in the glass.
“Did it work?” Louis asked, stepping forward and looking at the woman.
Aurelius stayed silent, his hands shaking in anticipation. Mark moved toward the glass chamber, when suddenly, the glass opened up like a door, releasing a fragrant mist. They stood there, watching for a whole minute. Nothing. At first nothing. The Great Grandfather looked like he was about to break down. His knees shook as he covered his mouth, thinking that he was responsible for the death of Helena.
That was when… a soft sound was heard. Movement. Olivia immediately went over to Mark and stood in front of him. Ready to protect him should anything happen. Slowly, the goddess moved more, her arms inched to the side.
Then, her eyes opened.
submitted by MYSFITS_OFFICIAL to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.05.17 04:02 AC_the_Panther_007 SNES: On the list, which SNES games in North America are your favorites in each year?

1991 (Aug. 13, 1991-Dec. 31, 1991):
  1. F-ZERO (Launch Title)
  2. Gradius III (Launch Title)
  3. Pilotwings (Launch Title)
  4. SimCity (Launch Title)
  5. Super Mario World (Launch Title)
  6. Drakkhen
  7. Final Fight
  8. HAL's Hole in One Golf
  9. HyperZone
  10. Populous
  11. Super Bases Loaded
  12. Super R-Type
  13. The Chessmaster
  14. U.N. Squadron
  15. Ultraman: Towards the Future
  16. Final Fantasy II
  17. ActRaiser
  18. Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball
  19. Darius Twin
  20. John Madden Football
  21. Paperboy 2
  22. Radical Psycho Machine Racing
  23. Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
  24. Super Tennis
  25. True Golf Classics: Waialae Country Club
  26. Super Castlevania IV
  27. D-Force
  28. Home Alone
  29. Lagoon
  30. Super Baseball Simulator 1.000
  31. Super Off Road
  32. The Miracle Piano Teaching System
1992 (Jan. 1, 1992-Dec. 31, 1992):
  1. Earth Defense Force
  2. Joe & Mac
  3. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys
  4. Nolan Ryan's Baseball
  5. Super Scope 6
  6. Super Smash TV
  7. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja
  8. Extra Innings
  9. Lemmings
  10. PGA Tour Golf
  11. Pit-Fighter
  12. Smart Ball
  13. The Addams Family
  14. WWF Super WrestleMania
  15. Contra III: The Alien Wars
  16. Raiden Trad
  17. Rival Turf!
  18. Super Adventure Island
  19. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
  20. Top Gear
  21. True Golf Classics: Pebble Beach Golf Links
  22. World League Soccer
  23. Xardion
  24. Arcana
  25. Jack Nicklaus Golf
  26. Mario Paint
  27. Romance of the Three Kingdoms II
  28. Super Soccer
  29. The Rocketeer
  30. Garry Kitchen's Super Battletank: War in the Gulf
  31. Krusty's Super Fun House
  32. Space Football: One on One
  33. Super Soccer Champ
  34. Thunder Spirits
  35. Clue
  36. Spanky's Quest
  37. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
  38. Ka-blooey
  39. Magic Sword
  40. Rampart
  41. Soul Blazer
  42. Strike Gunner S.T.G.
  43. Super Play Action Football
  44. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
  45. Axelay
  46. DinoCity
  47. F1 ROC: Race of Champions
  48. Faceball 2000
  49. George Foreman's KO Boxing
  50. Monopoly
  51. RoboCop 3
  52. Roger Clemens' MVP Baseball
  53. Super Bowling
  54. Super Mario Kart
  55. The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare
  56. Wheel of Fortune: Featuring Vanna White
  57. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
  58. Battle Clash
  59. BlaZeon: The Bio-Cyborg Challenge
  60. David Crane's Amazing Tennis
  61. Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
  62. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
  63. Hook
  64. James Bond Jr.
  65. King of the Monsters
  66. NCAA Basketball
  67. Phalanx
  68. Q*bert 3
  69. Race Drivin'
  70. Sküljagger: Revolt of the Westicans
  71. Space Megaforce
  72. Super Batter Up
  73. Super Buster Bros.
  74. Super Double Dragon
  75. The Irem Skins Game
  76. TKO Super Championship Boxing
  77. Wings 2: Aces High
  78. Bazooka Blitzkrieg
  79. Best of the Best: Championship Karate
  80. Captain Novolin
  81. Chuck Rock
  82. Cyber Spin
  83. Firepower 2000
  84. GunForce
  85. Imperium
  86. John Madden Football '93
  87. On the Ball
  88. Out of This World
  89. Prince of Persia
  90. Road Riot 4WD
  91. Road Runner's Death Valley Rally
  92. Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge
  93. Super Star Wars
  94. Wing Commander
  95. Wordtris
  96. X-Zone
  97. Bulls vs. Blazers and the NBA Playoffs
  98. Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball
  99. Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool
  100. Gemfire
  101. Goal!
  102. Gods: The Bitmap Brothers
  103. Jeopardy!
  104. Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour
  105. Lethal Weapon
  106. Musya
  107. NBA All-Star Challenge
  108. NHLPA Hockey '93
  109. Pro Quarterback
  110. Push-Over
  111. Test Drive II: The Duel
  112. The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse
  113. WarpSpeed
1993 (Jan. 1, 1993-Dec. 31, 1993):
  1. California Games II
  2. Power Moves
  3. The Hunt for Red October
  4. Uncharted Waters
  5. Aerobiz
  6. Cool World
  7. Dragon's Lair
  8. Harley's Humongous Adventure
  9. Hit the Ice
  10. Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye
  11. SimEarth: The Living Planet
  12. Sonic Blast Man
  13. Super Valis IV
  14. The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt
  15. Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose!
  16. Doomsday Warrior
  17. Inindo: Way of the Ninja
  18. King Arthur's World
  19. Spindizzy Worlds
  20. Star Fox
  21. Super Conflict: The Mideast
  22. Super Strike Eagle
  23. Tecmo Super NBA Basketball
  24. The Combatribes
  25. American Gladiators
  26. Batman Returns
  27. Battle Grand Prix
  28. Brawl Brothers
  29. Cybernator
  30. Fatal Fury
  31. Outlander
  32. Street Combat
  33. Super Ninja Boy
  34. The Lost Vikings
  35. The Terminator
  36. Tom and Jerry
  37. Toys
  38. Wayne's World
  39. Alien³
  40. Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind
  41. Congo's Caper
  42. MechWarrior
  43. Shadowrun
  44. Super Black Bass
  45. Super Turrican
  46. Taz-Mania
  47. Vegas Stakes
  48. Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?
  49. Rock n' Roll Racing
  50. Run Saber
  51. B.O.B.
  52. Battletoads in Battlemaniacs
  53. Cacoma Knight in Bizyland
  54. Dungeon Master
  55. Family Dog
  56. Kawasaki Caribbean Challenge
  57. Mario is Missing!
  58. Pocky & Rocky
  59. Super High Impact
  60. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
  61. The Blues Brothers
  62. The Great Waldo Search
  63. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
  64. Wolfchild
  65. WWF Royal Rumble
  66. Yoshi's Cookie
  67. E.V.O.: Search for Eden
  68. First Samurai
  69. Disney's Goof Troop
  70. NFL Football
  71. Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing
  72. Super Baseball 2020
  73. Super James Pond
  74. Super Slam Dunk
  75. Final Fight 2
  76. Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
  77. Super Mario All-Stars
  78. Super Slap Shot
  79. Mortal Kombat: Competition Edition
  80. Alien vs. Predator
  81. Boxing Legends of the Ring
  82. Bram Stoker's Dracula
  83. Captain America and the Avengers
  84. Cool Spot
  85. GP-1
  86. Mecarobot Golf
  87. Operation Logic Bomb: The Ultimate Search & Destroy
  88. P.T.O.
  89. Plok
  90. Redline F-1 Racer
  91. Rocky Rodent
  92. Super Bomberman
  93. Super Off Road: the Baja
  94. Super Widget
  95. The 7th Saga
  96. Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Adventure Series
  97. Top Gear 2
  98. Tuff E Nuff
  99. Utopia: The Creation of a Nation
  100. Wing Commander: The Secret Missions
  101. World Heroes
  102. Yoshi's Safari
  103. Zombies Ate My Neighbors
  104. Aero the Acro-Bat
  105. Battletoads & Double Dragon: The Ultimate Team
  106. Capcom's MVP Football
  107. Cliffhanger
  108. Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions
  109. Family Feud
  110. Football Fury
  111. Kendo Rage
  112. Last Action Hero
  113. Lock On
  114. Madden NFL '94
  115. NBA Showdown
  116. NHL '94
  117. Pac-Attack
  118. Paladin's Quest
  119. Secret of Mana
  120. SimAnt
  121. Sunset Riders
  122. Super Caesars Palace
  123. Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
  124. The Incredible Crash Dummies
  125. The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots!
  126. The Super Aquatic Games Starring the Aquabats
  127. The Wizard of Oz
  128. Troddlers
  129. True Golf Classics: Wicked 18
  130. ActRaiser 2
  131. Disney's Aladdin
  132. BioMetal
  133. Championship Pool
  134. ClayFighter
  135. International Tennis Tour
  136. Jurassic Park
  137. Lamborghini American Challenge
  138. NHL Stanley Cup
  139. Out to Lunch
  140. Pink Goes to Hollywood
  141. Ranma ½: Hard Battle
  142. RoboCop Versus The Terminator
  143. Steel Talons
  144. Super Battleship
  145. Super Putty
  146. Tecmo Super Bowl
  147. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
  148. The Lawnmower Man
  149. Time Slip
  150. Tony Meola's Sidekicks Soccer
  151. Total Carnage
  152. We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story
  153. ABC Monday Night Football
  154. Art of Fighting
  155. Barbie: Super Model
  156. Battle Blaze
  157. Battle Cars
  158. Beethoven: The Ultimate Canine Caper
  159. Dennis the Menace
  160. Dig & Spike Volleyball
  161. F1 Pole Position
  162. Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Gray Wolf
  163. Inspector Gadget
  164. Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D
  165. Lufia & the Fortress of Doom
  166. Mario's Time Machine
  167. Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge
  168. Metal Marines
  169. Nobunaga's Ambition
  170. Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny
  171. Side Pocket
  172. Soldiers of Fortune
  173. Super Chase H.Q.
  174. Super Nova
  175. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters
  176. The Adventures of Dr. Franken
  177. World Soccer '94: Road to Glory
1994 (Jan. 1, 1994-Dec. 31, 1994):
  1. Brett Hull Hockey
  2. Choplifter III
  3. Lester the Unlikely
  4. Lethal Enforcers
  5. Mega Man X
  6. Riddick Bowe Boxing
  7. Skyblazer
  8. Super Battletank 2
  9. Super Solitaire
  10. Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension
  11. Ardy Lightfoot
  12. Bill Walsh College Football
  13. Bugs Bunny: Rabbit Rampage
  14. Flashback: The Quest for Identity
  15. Mickey's Ultimate Challenge
  16. Ninja Warriors
  17. Pro Sport Hockey
  18. Sports Illustrated: Championship Football & Baseball
  19. Super Alfred Chicken
    1. Super Bases Loaded 2
  20. Super Troll Islands
  21. T2: The Arcade Game
  22. Turn and Burn: No-Fly Zone
  23. Winter Olympic Games: Lillehammer '94
  24. X-Kaliber 2097
  25. Chester Cheetah: Wild Wild Quest
  26. Claymates
  27. Equinox
  28. Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball
  29. MLBPA Baseball
  30. NBA Jam
  31. Star Trek: The Next Generation - Future's Past
  32. The Flintstones: The Treasure of Sierra Madrock
  33. The Peace Keepers
  34. Wolfenstein 3D
  35. Young Merlin
  36. Super Metroid
  37. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder
  38. Bébé's Kids
  39. Champions World Class Soccer
  40. Dream T.V.
  41. Fatal Fury 2
  42. Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics
  43. King of Dragons
  44. Knights of the Round
  45. Legend
  46. Liberty or Death
  47. Mega Man Soccer
  48. Pinball Dreams
  49. Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day
  50. SOS
  51. Super Goal! 2
  52. Time Trax
  53. Ultima: The False Prophet
  54. Wheel of Fortune: Deluxe Edition
  55. Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom
  56. Andre Agassi Tennis
  57. ClayFighter: Tournament Edition
  58. ESPN Baseball Tonight
  59. FIFA International Soccer
  60. Jeopardy! Sports Edition
  61. Relief Pitcher
  62. Rex Ronan: Experimental Surgeon
  63. Space Ace
  64. Spectre
  65. Suzuka 8 Hours
  66. The Pirates of Dark Water
  67. ESPN SpeedWorld
  68. Barkley: Shut Up and Jam!
  69. Capcom's Soccer Shootout
  70. Championship Soccer '94
  71. Final Fight Guy
  72. HardBall III
  73. Hyper V-Ball
  74. Jeopardy! Deluxe Edition
  75. King of the Monsters 2
  76. Natsume Championship Wrestling
  77. Operation Europe: Path to Victory 1939-45
  78. Saturday Night Slam Masters
  79. Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
  80. The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates
  81. The Ren & Stimpy Show: Fire Dogs
  82. The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
  83. Tommy Moe's Winter Extreme: Skiing & Snowboarding
  84. Ultimate Fighter
  85. World Cup USA '94
  86. Disney's Beauty and the Beast
  87. F1 ROC II: Race of Champions
  88. Stunt Race FX
  89. Super Godzilla
  90. Breath of Fire
  91. Aerobiz Supersonic
  92. An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
  93. Brain Lord
  94. Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls
  95. Eek! The Cat
  96. Elite Soccer
  97. Fighter's History
  98. Fun 'n Games
  99. Mr. Nutz
  100. Tetris 2
  101. The Adventures of Kid Kleets
  102. The Death and Return of Superman
  103. The Incredible Hulk
  104. Disney's The Jungle Book
  105. The Untouchables
  106. Troy Aikman NFL Football
  107. Kid Klown in Crazy Chase
  108. Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage
  109. Blackthorne
  110. Illusion of Gaia
  111. Mario's Early Years: Fun with Numbers
  112. Michael Andretti's Indy Car Challenge
  113. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
  114. Mortal Kombat II
  115. Obitus
  116. Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures
  117. Super Bomberman 2
  118. Tecmo Super Baseball
  119. Virtual Bart
  120. Vortex
  121. WildSnake
  122. World Heroes 2
  123. Final Fantasy III
  124. Adventures of Yogi Bear
  125. Disney's Bonkers
  126. Bubsy II
  127. Earthworm Jim
  128. Firestriker
  129. HammerLock Wrestling
  130. Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures
  131. J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Volume 1
  132. Lord of Darkness
  133. Mario's Early Years: Fun with Letters
  134. Math Blaster: Episode 1
  135. Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse
  136. NBA Live '95
  137. NCAA Football
  138. Operation Thunderbolt
  139. R-Type III: The Third Lightning
  140. Radical Rex
  141. Robotrek
  142. Shaq-Fu
  143. Shien's Revenge
  144. Snow White in Happily Ever After
  145. Sparkster
  146. Super Adventure Island II
  147. Super Punch-Out!!
  148. Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
  149. The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey & Minnie
  150. Disney's The Lion King
  151. Uncharted Waters: New Horizons
  152. Donkey Kong Country
  153. 3 Ninjas Kick Back
  154. ACME Animation Factory
  155. Aero Fighters
  156. Aero the Acro-Bat 2
  157. Al Unser Jr.'s Road to the Top
  158. Animaniacs
  159. Ballz 3D
  160. Bassin's Black Bass with Hank Parker
  161. Beavis and Butt-Head
  162. Cannondale Cup
  163. Demon's Crest
  164. Dragon View
  165. ESPN Sunday Night NFL
  166. Ghoul Patrol
  167. Home Improvement
  168. Jammit
  169. Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues
  170. Lemmings 2: The Tribes
  171. Madden NFL '95
  172. Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun
  173. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
  174. Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City
  175. Newman/Haas Indy Car featuring Nigel Mansell
  176. NHL '95
  177. Nickelodeon GUTS
  178. No Escape
  179. Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
  180. Pocky & Rocky 2
  181. Samurai Shodown
  182. Sonic Blast Man II
  183. Speed Racer in My Most Dangerous Adventures
  184. Stone Protectors
  185. Street Hockey '95
  186. Super Bonk
  187. Super Pinball: Behind the Mask
  188. The Pagemaster
  189. The Ren & Stimpy Show: Time Warp
  190. Tin Star
  191. TNN Bass Tournament of Champions
  192. Ultima: Runes of Virtue II
  193. Ultima: The Black Gate
  194. WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling
  195. Wolverine: Adamantium Rage
  196. WWF Raw
  197. X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse
  198. Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
  199. Biker Mice from Mars
  200. Brutal: Paws of Fury
  201. ESPN National Hockey Night
  202. GP-1: Part II
  203. Hurricanes
  204. Metal Morph
  205. Micro Machines
  206. NFL Quarterback Club
  207. Pieces
  208. Power Instinct
  209. Rise of the Robots
  210. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – Starship Bridge Simulator
  211. Street Racer
  212. Tetris & Dr. Mario
  213. The Adventures of Batman & Robin
  214. The Tick
  215. Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge
  216. Uniracers
  217. Wario's Woods
  218. Super Game Boy (if counts)
1995 (Jan. 1, 1995-Dec. 31, 1995):
  1. A.S.P. Air Strike Patrol
  2. BreakThru!
  3. Brett Hull Hockey 95
  4. Carrier Aces
  5. ClayFighter 2: Judgment Clay
  6. Full Throttle: All-American Racing
  7. Mega Man X2
  8. Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra
  9. Pac-In-Time
  10. Rap Jam: Volume One
  11. seaQuest DSV
  12. Tecmo Super Bowl II: Special Edition
  13. The Ignition Factor
  14. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition
  15. Addams Family Values
  16. The Adventures of Mighty Max
  17. Brandish
  18. Kirby's Avalanche
  19. Kirby's Dream Course
  20. Looney Tunes B-Ball
  21. NCAA Final Four Basketball
  22. Pinball Fantasies
  23. Rise of the Phoenix
  24. Spider-Man: The Animated Series
  25. Super Bases Loaded 3: License to Steal
  26. The Flintstones : The Movie
  27. Top Gear 3000
  28. True Lies
  29. Bust-A-Move
  30. Sterling Sharpe: End 2 End
  31. The Itchy & Scratchy Game
  32. Warlock
  33. Fatal Fury Special
  34. Kyle Petty's No Fear Racing
  35. Metal Warriors
  36. Stargate
  37. The Ren & Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$!
  38. Timecop
  39. Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen
  40. EarthBound
  41. Air Cavalry
  42. Bass Masters Classic
  43. Hagane: The Final Conflict
  44. International Superstar Soccer
  45. Judge Dredd
  46. Jungle Strike
  47. Justice League Task Force
  48. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
  49. Packy & Marlon
  50. Phantom 2040
  51. Super R.B.I. Baseball
  52. The Sporting News: Baseball
  53. Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
  54. King Arthur and the Knights of Justice
  55. Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire
  56. Tecmo Secret of the Stars
  57. Wild Guns
  58. Ninja Gaiden Trilogy
  59. Chrono Trigger
  60. Primal Rage
  61. Batman Forever
  62. Captain Commando
  63. Demolition Man
  64. Killer Instinct
  65. Speedy Gonzales: Los Gatos Bandidos
  66. SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
  67. DOOM
  68. Mega Man 7
  69. Bronkie the Bronchiasaurus
  70. Castlevania: Dracula X
  71. Foreman For Real
  72. Head-On Soccer
  73. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition
  74. NHL '96
  75. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Crossroads of Time
  76. WeaponLord
  77. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
  78. Mortal Kombat 3
  79. Big Sky Trooper
  80. MechWarrior 3050
  81. NBA Live '96
  82. Nosferatu
  83. Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday
  84. Secret of Evermore
  85. Spawn: The Video Game
  86. Tecmo Super Bowl III: Final Edition
  87. The Mask
  88. Madden NFL '96
  89. AAAHH!! Real Monsters
  90. Dirt Trax FX
  91. Doom Troopers
  92. Earthworm Jim 2
  93. Emmitt Smith Football
  94. FIFA Soccer '96
  95. Frank Thomas Big Hurt Baseball
  96. International Superstar Soccer Deluxe
  97. Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings
  98. Jimmy Houston's Bass Tournament U.S.A.
  99. NBA Give 'N Go
  100. NFL Quarterback Club 96
  101. Scooby-Doo Mystery
  102. Sid Meier's Civilization
  103. Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety
  104. Super Turrican 2
  105. Urban Strike
  106. Wild C.A.T.s
  107. WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game
  108. Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure
  109. Breath of Fire II
  110. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
  111. Kawasaki Superbike Challenge
  112. P.T.O. II: Pacific Theater of Operations
  113. Revolution X
  114. Syndicate
  115. Disney's Toy Story
  116. War 2410
  117. Wayne Gretzky and the NHLPA All-Stars
  118. Zoop
1996-1998 (Jan. 1, 1996-Dec. 31, 1998):
  1. Final Fight 3
  2. Mega Man X3
  3. PGA Tour '96
  4. Prehistorik Man
  5. Sink or Swim
  6. College Slam
  7. Cutthroat Island
  8. Frantic Flea
  9. Mark Davis' The Fishing Master
  10. The Brainies
  11. Power Piggs of the Dark Age
  12. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
  13. Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run
  14. Olympic Summer Games: Atlanta 1996
  15. Bass Masters Classic: Pro Edition
  16. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals
  17. Magic Boy
  18. Mohawk & Headphone Jack
  19. Tetris Attack
  20. Kirby Super Star
  21. Ms. Pac-Man
  22. PGA European Tour
  23. Power Rangers Zeo: Battle Racers
  24. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
  25. Madden NFL '97
  26. NHL '97
  27. Oscar
  28. Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame
  29. War 3010: The Revolution
  30. Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits
  31. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble
  32. Marvel Super Heroes in War of the Gems
  33. Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow
  34. NBA Hang Time
  35. Disney's Pinocchio
  36. SimCity 2000
  37. Street Fighter Alpha 2
  38. Whizz
  39. Casper
  40. College Football USA '97
  41. Incantation
  42. Mr. Do!
  43. NBA Live '97
  44. Realm
  45. FIFA Soccer '97
  46. Lost Vikings 2
  47. Harvest Moon
  48. Brunswick World: Tournament of Champions
  49. Midway Presents Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1
  50. Kirby's Dream Land 3
  51. Arkanoid: Doh It Again
  52. Madden NFL '98
  53. Space Invaders
  54. Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games
  55. NHL '98
  56. NBA Live '98
  57. Frogger
Plus, there are 716 Super Nintendo Entertainment System video games in North America.
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2024.05.17 01:56 Hollow_Jacko Starship troopers

So been a long time fan of starship troopers (mainly the animated films and a few of the live action i have not been able to find the books) and I was just wondering if any other helldivers out there are also going for a starship troopers inspired premium warbond complete with armours, guns and possibly new support weapon stratagems also inspired by starship troopers! Have rewatched we both starship troopers invasion and starship troopers traitor to mars (both are part of my favourite animated films collection) to scratch the itch helldivers 2 gives me! I know it’s not likely but was just curious if other helldivers have that same itch when slaughtering the bug scourge
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2024.05.16 23:57 PoisonPanc4ke The Great Expansion: Early Stages

The Empire's early expansion was largely tranquil, a surprising fact given the impressive size of the fleets being deployed. Despite the initial apprehensions of most systems at the sight of such formidable forces, peaceful engagements and diplomacy prevailed, leading to feast-hosted meetings and eventual treaty signings. However, there were several instances where systems viewed the Empire's arrival as an incursion and retaliated.
Regnum Medusa
In the fourth year of expansion, Regnum Medusa mounted a formidable defence, instigating a siege that extended for nearly five months. The Imperial forces suffered casualties in the tens of thousands. Although relatively small compared to the total strength of Aurelian's forces, the losses weighed heavily on the Emperor. The planet Koforne Beta was particularly challenging due to both local resistance and hostile sentinel presence. Commanded by the ninth Hetaera to join Aurelian, the Vy'keen Archidamos, the siege finally resulted in the planet's capitulation after its leaders and staunchest supporters were eliminated.
Regnum Fenrir
In the subsequent three months post-Regnum Medusa, more systems, albeit warily, accepted the Empire and pledged their alliance. Regnum Artemis was one such system that, following a tense standoff, agreed to a truce and eventually embraced Aurelian's terms, fostering a durable friendship with the Empire. However, this peace streak was short-lived. Upon the Empire's arrival in the Elumsl system, an abrupt engagement occurred before diplomacy could take place. The local fleet initiated an aggressive attack, leading to a brief but intense space battle. Thanks to the intensive training of Aurelian's pilots, their losses were minimal, whereas the enemy fleet was decimated. Even the local space station required reconstruction post-conflict. Following the battle, Aurelian ordered a complete overhaul and renaming of the Elumsl system, ensuring its full compliance.
Regnum Carthago
The assault on Regnum Carthago marked the most devastating battle of Aurelian's celestial campaigns, inflicting substantial casualties on both Aurelian's forces and his adversaries. The campaign stretched over approximately eight months, with Aurelian personally directing the operation, whilst his Hetaeroi took charge of ancillary fleets, ensuring the continuous expansion into adjacent systems.
Upon entering the system, they were confronted by the anticipatory local fleet of Regnum Carthago, their weapons trained and ready as Aurelian's fleet exited hyperspace. Despite suffering initial losses, Aurelian's fleet retaliated with a barrage of firepower that wreaked havoc on the enemy fleet, notably from his flagship, the Invictus Imperator. The system was inundated with swarming fighters and an unprecedented magnitude of firepower. The aftermath was a graveyard of starship debris, twisted metal, and the lifeless bodies of unfortunate souls suspended in the void of space, frozen in the writhing positions they had died in. Aurelian's fleet, led by the Invictus Imperator, was a relentless force. Accompanying him to the right was Sonnha Ventrix, a humanoid female, his most senior Hetaera and the first to ally with him. With her ship, the Invincible Wrath, she efficiently dealt with the remnants of the enemy in the wake of Aurelian's onslaught. What remained post-battle was a scene of utter destruction, with wrecked starships and freighters scattered across the void, their shattered frames catching occasional glimmers of light.
With the enemy's naval strength effectively decimated, the Imperial forces proceeded to lay siege to the planets. Sequentially, the planets fell to the relentless advance of Aurelian's tireless armies. First was Eimoscut Shog, then Uadania, Hidadovl, and Maxin T14. The sheer brutality of the conflict was nearly beyond comprehension, a stark reminder of the grim reality of war. Sonnha led a diversionary fleet to impose a blockade on the planet Fold XIX, as Aurelian led the primary force to conquer Irskolel VI. With Irskolel secured within weeks, Aurelian joined Sonnha over Fold XIX. As they prepared for a full-scale invasion, the planet unexpectedly capitulated, pledging eternal loyalty to the Empire. In honour of this surrender, a grand celebration and feast were held, heralding a seemingly strong alliance with the Empire.
This marked the culmination of the Empire's initial phase of expansion.
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2024.05.16 02:45 mining_moron Road to Hope Chapters 0-7 [Chapter Outlines only]

ch0 -- [already written]. City Alpha of Ikun, Nyektak-pack is in the Bastion, the official City Alpha residence, working through the annual agenda that the Lawspeakers have passed them for Y932. Along the way, they begin discussing what kind of legacy they'll leave behind after they're dead and gone, whether everything they've built will be torn apart in a day or stand for a thousand years. The pack's alpha Nyektak Tun points out that Ikun stands in a precarious position and what they do now will have a huge impact. The economy is stagnating due to jobs being replaced by robots and automation, the environment is collapsing, leading to huge waves of refugees from the equatorial Dunelands. Further, their geopolitical enemy Koranah city-state is rapidly catching up economically and militarily, and sensing blood in the water with regards to Ikun's hegemony, is becoming increasingly aggressive with its foreign policy. Nyektak Nyak suggests that geoengineering can be used to stabilize things, with tools such as weather control satellites and ecological nanobots. However, this is regarded as a critical security threat by Tun, as Koranah is ahead of Ikun in this field, so if a global Climate Control System is created, then it is likely Koranah-based companies and Koranah technology that will tie the whole system together, leading them to have an outsized role. Such a thing is regarded as politically dangerous, as it could pose a threat to the Hegemony even without Koranah overturning Ikun's nuclear monopoly. And it won't even create many jobs in Ikun, so it won't resolve the economic concerns. Nyak points out that it's not politically viable to simply ban geoengineering without the state coming up with a better idea. After a long discussion, it is Nyektak Aykay who finally has a breakthrough idea. They will create a starship to send a military occupation force to planet TRK-16-3 (aka Earth......). Not only will this create enormous numbers of jobs in Ikun to revitalize the economy, but it will demonstrate to the rest of the world that Ikun still has an unmatched ability to project military force even at interstellar distances, and give the citizens of Ikun hope that they can seek out a better life on another planet. Indeed for this reason, it is called Project Hope.
ch1 -- [already written] Nyektak-pack makes an unexpected appearence in the Hall of Power, where Ikun's Lawspeakers convene, looking to make some deals and exert some pressure in order to get Project Hope put on the annual agenda. They have identified that a certain Lawspeaker Ronyr-pack is the most influential pack in the Lawspeakers' Association at present, and so speak to them first, the idea being that they will be able to pull the strings necessary to approve Project Hope. Although Lawspeaker Ronyr-pack are initially skeptical, they agree to assist after Nyektak-pack promises an array of political favors, including guaranteeing that Ikoin Corporation--which Ronyr-pack own significant stock in--will be the main contractor for Project Hope, and reducing the taxes they collect on healthcare workers, who are present in large numbers in Ronyr-pack's district. However, Ronyr-pack is just the first Lawspeaker that Nyektak-pack will have to deal with; in order to ensure that Project Hope actually gets onto the agenda, they also have to make a separate deal with Ronyr-pack's enemy Lawspeaker Radenkiut-pack, who have the second-largest group of allies in the Lawspeaker's Association. Nevertheless, City Alpha Nyektak-pack gets what they want--zero restrictions on raising funds for Project Hope, coupled with a ban on geoengineering tech and directives to pursue sanctions against other city-states that don't join them in doing so, thereby inhibiting the rise of a Climate Control System as an alternative to Project Hope. As Nyektak Aykay points out, these two agenda items reinforce each other; one can't be overturned without also overturning the other.
ch2 -- Icen-pack is a struggling pack of construction workers in Ikun in Y934, who always have to be on the constant lookout for their next gig, as jobs are scarce and hard to come by. They are currently working on a new skyscraper in Ikun's well-to-do District 7, including the flying buttresses that extend over the surrounding roads to interconnect with the supports of adjacent buildings, as typical with Kyanah architecture. Even now they are already even as they work leveraging advanced algorithms to predict the next opening so they can apply before anyone else. Things are made even more cutthroat by the increasingly widespread use of wearable sensors to identify the best performers, and the fact that immigrants from the Dunelands tend to be willing to work for lower wages, which drives pay down for everyone and often forces native Ikun packs to work even harder to justify their wages. As they work, Icen Korak (who, like Kei and Nuyu, grew up in the industry, as their birth-packs worked in construction) laments that things used to be simpler when he was growing up, and packs didn't have to constantly fight against each other to land building jobs, and there were more full time positions instead of the constant data-driven scramble for gigs. Icen-pack's alpha Naiun, as well as Karok, mostly take this in stride, having not grown up in the industry and thus not being as familiar with it, but the rest agree with Korak. Karok points out that it's not a huge surprise, considering how few buildings are being built in the current economy and how even a skyscraper can be built with just a couple dozen packs with current technology, but still nobody is happy with the status quo. They contemplate trying to sabotage the metrics of their coworkers, suspecting that others will do the same to them, taking advantage of the new wearable sensors that are measuring performance; however Naiun insists that they will be fine if they just work hard and be honest, and seeing as she is the pack's alpha that kind of shuts the idea down. They also contemplate having another pair of young, in addition to their current pair Raktan and Tyorek, but money is at present too tight for that. However, Project Hope is announced to the public in an address by Nyektak-pack on state TV. They are initially all a bit confused why Ikun is planning an interstellar invasion, but Kei realizes that Project Hope will serve as a huge jobs program and speculates that this will have knock-on effects across the rest of the economy, and jobs for them will once again be plentiful, putting the whole pack on a hopeful note.
ch3 -- Ryen-pack is graduating from the prestigious Nktan University (in the neighboring city-state of Nktan obviously) and becoming scholars of the first rank. While they all agree they are going to miss the university, they all look forward to going back to Ikun and what comes ahead, as they will be starting work at a prestigious influencing firm in Ikun, basically working with the government to have laws changed for their clients. Ryen Kerok, the pack's Alpha, is especially eager to change the world, believing that they will be able to do a lot of good by influencing the highest levels of Ikun's government for their future clients. Teren is mostly thinking about the high salary that will enable them to have children quickly, whereas young packs in Ikun have to save for years. As for Kaun, she occupies something of a middle ground between the two. Ryen Konyan has the most misgivings about everything, about leaving Nktan University for the "real world", about the possibility that they'll end up working for corrupt clients and doing more harm than good, and about bringing children into a dying world, especially with the onset of Project Hope, which they all agree is stupid and short-sighted, but don't think the government will actually go through with building the starships and launching the military expedition to Earth. They are also concerned about the geoengineering ban, believing that Koranah city-state and their allies will just ignore it, giving them even more control over the future Climate Control System. And so they make their way back to Ikun to begin their careers at the influencing firm Kortak-Dakayan Corporation, a bit hopeful but also a bit uncertain about the future.
ch4 -- some lawspeakers and the city alpha are being shown the initial stages of technological progress on Project Hope in Y935 at Toryak University, the most prestigious university in Ikun. An enormous supercomputer complex has been constructed, using the Kyanahs' signature mechanical computers and is being used to research interstellar propulsion methods. Although many of the scientists are a little skeptical of Project Hope, they do appreciate the huge influx of funding to pursue their research. Nyektak-pack is impressed that the complex has been constructed in only a year (technically it's still under construction, but experiments are already underway as the city-state has imposed some very tough deadlines on them), but as the lead scientist-pack points out, it wasn't so difficult when they had a blank check from the Ikun government. However, they have some bad news: they've been attempting to design an interstellar engine using nuclear pulse propulsion, but despite their best efforts to optimize the design, it will only be able to reach 4% of light speed, which as they point out means that humanity will possibly be more technologically advanced than their own military by the time Project Hope arrives. The main problem is that the casing and detonation mechanisms of the nukes are basically dead weight. It seems that there may be a way around this by using antimatter-catalyzed nuclear propulsion, where small quantities of antimatter are fed into nuclear material to force a reaction without needing a bunch of actual nukes. However, this further has the problem that it will require grams of antimatter, meaning that a huge particle accelerator in the PeV range will have to be built. But if this can be done, the engines will be able to reach the required 7.5% of light speed. Much to the scientists' shock, Nyektak-pack immediately agrees to fund this accelerator. However, in private this prompts an argument between them as they don't actually have available funds, even if they funnel money from non-Hope agenda items into the project. The realize that Ikun can't do it alone while also building the starships themselves, they need funds and technical expertise from other city-states to build it, and will need to use their influence in the Coalition of Cities to get it, possibly in exchange for dipolmatic concessions that may destabilize Ikun's already precarious Hegemony. Meanwhile, we are also introduced to Nyektor-pack, a student of the second rank working on the supercomputing project while nurturing big dreams to someday be scholar of the third rank, at which point they aspire to start a research group to solve the many technical problems that must be solved for Project Hope to be successful.
ch5 -- A certain Ryen-pack--none other than Ryen Kerok's birth-pack--are working at one of Ikun's top universities, where their life's work has revolved around developing ecological nanobots that can break down pollutants in the soil. However, with enforcement of Y934 Agenda Item 579 beginning (banning technology associated with the Climate Control System), their entire life's work has now been forbidden by the government. Even many of their own students have bought into the official propaganda that this technology is dangerous and unreliable, and must be banned, much to their anger and disgust. They have continued working right up until the day the ban comes into effect, but a pack of university administrators orders them to destroy their research as the police will soon be arriving to shut the department down. Many harsh words are exchanged between Ryen-pack and the administrators, but ultimately there's nothing they can do except wipe their computers and destroy their prototypes before the police show up. After this, they reach out to their son Kerok's pack, which causes Kerok to wonder what is going on in their lives and if they want to be ikoin (kyanah term for friends/allies, but more explicitly transactional) but the elder Ryen-pack is retiring and leaving Ikun for the northern scrublands. Kerok urges them to stay and use their brilliant minds to do some good in Ikun, including the younger Ryen-pack's future children (even telling them that they will name one of their young after the elder Ryen-pack's alpha, Ayen), but the elder pack has made up their mind, they're done trying to pursue science while the government keeps interfering with their work, but tell the younger pack that the young are the future of Ikun, and if they want to save the planet, they must optimize their young for the cause, a message which seems to resonate most with Kerok and less with some of the others, especially Konyan.
ch6 -- Aktektan-pack is a large pack with many young who works long and arduous hours at an Ikoin Corporation factory assembling bombs and missiles for meager pay. After another mind numbing and monotonous day of working and getting into petty fights with coworkers during Y936, they head home to their tiny rundown apartment and engage in their typical pasttime of watching TV, especially Ikun's state TV, which triumphantly reports that Project Hope is already proving to be a massive boon to the economy. The fact that they've receieved a small bonus this year further convinces them that this is unquestionably true. They immediately proceed to spend their bonus on alcohol and pro-government merch. After Nedak realizes that their rent has increased as well by the same amount as their bonus, he angrily accuses their alpha Nyaken of mismanaging their money, to which Nyaken accuses the other females in the pack--Karien and Tanun--of laying too many eggs and creating too many mouths to feed, though their seems to be an undercurrent of jealousy in her rants, which leads to a physical fight between the members of Aktektan-pack. Later, Karien reveals that she's actually laid another egg--actually only one, which is seen as a sign of bad luck, as Kyanah lay eggs in pairs. These arguments ultimately peter out as the pack ends up falling asleep whilst watching a rather jingoistic movie.
ch7 -- Ptorya-pack lives in Adronkin, a city-state in the scorching hot Dunelands that is poorer, less developed, and much smaller than Ikun, where they're assistant administrators at a local textile factory. An unseasonally strong and dangerous sandstorm strikes, causing considerable damage to the factory and disrupting operations. Some workers, including Ptorya Llrien speculates that city-state officials including the City Alpha have been embezzling money intended for fortifying local buildings against sandstorms and spending it on luxury cars and mansions instead, but Ptorya-pack's alpha Rytor advises everyone not to ask too many questions about it and just focus on repairing the factory so they can all get back to work. At their home, which is quite small and spartan; despite them being white collar workers in the top 10% of earners in Adronkin, it would be a poor pack's apartment in Ikun; they notice clouds of irritating industrial smog containing lots of coal dust wafting in from the south and find several dead thukukenoids (creatures which float through the air like balloons, filter feeding on airborne spores and vegetation) lying around their neighborhood; Nekyez notes that they seem to have been dying off in droves as of late, though Rytor dismisses this as probably nothing and tells Nekyez not to worry their pack's young children. As they eat their day-meal, the subject of Project Hope comes up; they seem to be a bit bemused about Ikun's plans to launch an interstellar conquest (as Ntreyn points out, "the blue people always have crazy ideas") but they are hopeful about reports that Ikun is reviving its economy and will continue to remain a hyperpower, as they see Ikun and its military as bringers of peace and order, especially as they provided aid and peacekeeping some years ago when Adronkin was struck by a wave of deadly sandstorms. Llrien offhandedly mentions that she sometimes wishes that they were in Ikun and Rytor says that it would take a long time and be very difficult to get in, but concedes that it would probably be better for their young to grow up there.
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2024.05.15 12:38 mcm8279 [Opinion] DEN OF GEEK: "A Doctor Who/Star Trek Crossover Would Be Unforgettable TV!" "But the big issue that any crossover would have to contend with (and also, frankly, the big reason for doing the crossover in the first place) is that the Doctor and Starfleet are natural enemies"

"Starfleet’s Prime Directive, for better or worse, is to never interfere. The Doctor’s prime directive is to never interfere unless he feels like it (which is all the time).
And that’s why it would be good! Watching the Strange New Worlds Enterprise crew scanning stuff with their tricorders while the Doctor wanders around licking things and pushing random buttons, and seeing Pike agonise about the Prime Directive while the Doctor just casually overturns a system of government he dislikes, sounds like real fun."
Chris Farnell (Den of Geek)
Link:
https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who-star-trek-crossover-would-make-unforgettable-tv/
DEN OF GEEK: "When Russell T Davies announced he’d be getting back on his throne as the King of Doctor Who, he had lots of new ideas, but also, some that he never got around to. We already know that episode five of this series is based on an idea that was too expensive to film last time.
In his memoistack of emails that got turned into a book, The Writer’s Tale, written with Benjamin Cook, Davies writes “I would so love to see the Doctor on board the Starship Enterprise, puncturing all that Starfleet pomposity with his sheer Doctor-ness.”
He goes on to say that “When we began in 2004, Star Trek: Enterprise was still on air, and I told [producer] Julie [Gardner], in all seriousness, that I wanted to do a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover. It was on our list of plans, until Star Trek: Enterprise was axed.”
It was an idea that Davies loved so much he went back to it for the Easter special that would eventually become Planet of the Dead, in an episode that would have potentially seen the TARDIS land on a starship Endeavour, with crinkly forehead aliens and all the Trek tropes. But eventually Davies discarded the idea as too much like parody – if you can’t land on the real, actual Enterprise, what’s the point?
But sadly, for Davies’ tenure, there was no real, actual Star Trek anymore. Let’s be honest, even Star Trek: Enterprise wasn’t proper Trek, with its faintly industrial looking, submarine-esque sets and its NASA jumpsuit-inspired costumes, the prequel never really managed to be the iconic Trek show of our imaginations.
But now Davies is back, and so is Star Trek, and not just any Star Trek.
Strange New Worlds is an episodic show whose tone is a mix of drama, comedy, and high science fiction concepts that would gel well with new Doctor Who, and has already demonstrated that it is not above a little bit of crossover horseplay with last season’s Lower Decks overlap.
Strange New Worlds also offers the Enterprise. With all due respect to all other Trek iterations, if you are bringing the actual TARDIS into the world of Trek, you don’t want the Doctor getting to know Saru, or Boimler, or even having a drink in Quark’s Bar, as great as any of those things would be to see. You want the Doctor on the actual Enterprise 1701 no-bloody-A,-B,-C-or-D. You want him meeting Spock, and Uhura, and more-often-than-seems-statistically-likely Kirk. And that is what Strange New Worlds has to offer.
So, before we all run off and start writing our fan fiction of what that episode might be, the question is “Could it actually happen?”
Davies is the first to admit such a crossover, between multiple huge media franchises and everybody’s lawyers and writing teams, would be a logistical nightmare. Talking about it to The Times in 2009, he said “Can you imagine what their script department would have wanted, and what I would have wanted? It would have been the biggest battle.”
[...]
First and foremost – Doctor Who and Star Trek both span half a century of various media, with entire wikis full of lore. For instance, if the Star Trek: Enterprise crossover had taken place, the Doctor might have wondered why Starfleet wasn’t busy trying to repel the Dalek invasion of Earth.
And it would have to do this while also dealing with the fact that Doctor Who has mentioned Star Trek, the television show, quite a few times in continuity. The comic mini-series spends a lot of time dealing with this, concocting an elaborate plot about the merging of universes, but it’s all just a little bit unwieldy for 45 minutes of family entertainment.
But even beyond those logistics, which can be pretty efficiently handwaved away, the big issue with the comic series was that the Doctor and the Enterprise crew quickly become just too damn chummy.
Back in The Writer’s Tale, Davies acknowledges that “In an official crossover, the Doctor would have had to learn that Starfleet is wonderful, but that’s a small price to pay.”
But the big issue that any crossover would have to contend with (and also, frankly, the big reason for doing the crossover in the first place) is that the Doctor and Starfleet are natural enemies.
You want to see how Starfleet would handle the Doctor? There’s plenty of Trek episodes to give you a clue. We don’t just mean the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “A Matter of Time” sees a time-travelling historian turn up on the Enterprise and generate no end of trouble, or the Enterprise episode, “Future Tense” that sees it find a time machine that’s bigger on the inside.
The character that most resembles the Doctor in Star Trek is Q – a (sometimes) exiled member of a stuffy order of beings that transcend space and time who turns up in Star Trek at random times to flirt with the Captain and generally cause trouble.
Meanwhile, if you want to see what Starfleet looks like through a Doctor Who lens, one need only look at the legions of generic space explorers who turn down the Doctor’s help with a curt “Thank you, funnily-dressed weirdo, but as a highly trained team of professionals, I think we can handle this ourselves” before they all get horribly murdered or eaten.
As we’ve already said, the fundamental values of Trek and Who are the same. Exploration, empathy, communication before combat, a desire to learn and enjoy the wonder of the universe. But at its very heart, Star Trek has always been a workplace drama, about professionals who are doing a job. Just as intrinsically, the Doctor is a tourist on a gap year that never ends.
Starfleet’s Prime Directive, for better or worse, is to never interfere. The Doctor’s prime directive is to never interfere unless he feels like it (which is all the time).
And that’s why it would be good! Watching the Strange New Worlds Enterprise crew scanning stuff with their tricorders while the Doctor wanders around licking things and pushing random buttons, and seeing Pike agonise about the Prime Directive while the Doctor just casually overturns a system of government he dislikes, sounds like real fun.
Moreover, Strange New Worlds and the current incarnation of Who are both franchises operating not only at their peak, but also almost in their most platonic forms. Seeing that come together would make an unforgettable hour of TV."
Chris Farnell (Den of Geek)
Link:
https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who-star-trek-crossover-would-make-unforgettable-tv/
submitted by mcm8279 to trektalk [link] [comments]


2024.05.15 07:01 DocWatson42 The List of Lists/The Master List

My lists are always being updated and expanded when new information comes in—what did I miss or am I unaware of (even if the thread predates my membership in Reddit), and what needs correction? Even (especially) if I get a subreddit or date wrong. (Note that, other than the quotation marks, the thread titles are "sic". I only change the quotation marks to match the standard usage (double to single, etc.) when I add my own quotation marks around the threads' titles.)
The lists are in absolute ascending chronological order by the posting date, and if need be the time of the initial post, down to the minute (or second, if required—there are several examples of this). The dates are in DD MMMM YYYY format per personal preference, and times are in US Eastern Time ("ET") since that's how they appear to me, and I'm not going to go to the trouble of converting to another time zone. They are also in twenty-four hour format, as that's what I prefer, and it saves the trouble and confusion of a.m. and p.m. Where the same user posts the same request to different subreddits, I note the user's name in order to indicate that I am aware of the duplication.
Thread lengths: longish (50–99 posts)/long (100–199 posts)/very long (200–299 posts)/extremely long (300–399 posts)/huge (400+ posts) (though not all threads are this strictly classified, especially ones before mid?-2023, though I am updating shorter lists as I repost them); they are in lower case to prevent their confusion with the name "Long" and are the first notation after a thread's information.
See also The List of Lists/The Master List of recommendation lists.
Related:
submitted by DocWatson42 to Recommend_A_Book [link] [comments]


2024.05.15 00:20 BrainAltruistic3475 Today's pickups

Today's pickups
Starship Troopers Special edition DVD Pecker DVD Mirrormask Blu Ray
submitted by BrainAltruistic3475 to dvdcollection [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 21:51 CptKeyes123 A "wet" navy in space warfare

In a lot of sci-fi, people often dismiss surface defenses, or make them overpowered or ridiculous. And in another direction, orbital bombardment's effectiveness is quite overstated when we look at the history of warfare. In particular for surface defenses though, wet navies at sea get overlooked. Certain writers will fight tooth and nail to keep infantry, tanks, planes, and artillery in a story, even with fleets of starships, then laugh at the idea of a space marine ever setting foot in water. But why? Submarines are naturally stealthy, and theoretically can avoid getting shot from orbit by diving. Yet they'll be dismissed or ignored. A surface vessel has 71% of the globe to maneuver in, potentially more on another planet, and it can carry a large reactor and plenty of weapons of any kind. Yet it is generally taken for granted that all surface vessels would be sunk immediately in any conflict, and are worthless. Other criticisms abound, yet the most common threads are presumption or omission. There is an undercurrent that consistently believes the ability to destroy a planet will make all enemies submit, when that hasn't stopped us since Trinity. I submit that naval vessels are underutilized, and could be more useful than expected, as a mobile source of energy and firepower that's bigger than anything ever put on land, and through their maneuverability have an advantage no stationary installation can match in terms of survivability and strategic deployment.
The arguments generally made against naval vessels are that a wet navy ship can't hide. You can't throw a tarp over it like you can infantry, tanks, or planes. Critics will insist that a seagoing vessel will be instantly lit up, it will be a target that will immediately be destroyed. If a submarine pops up to fire, they'll get nuclear depth charge'd or shot with a laser. Here's a few questions; what's the difference between that and infantry? Why have ground forces at all? Some critics will ask that exact question. In some circles it's presumed that space warfare makes all other kinds of conflict obsolete, or that significant firepower does the same thing. The ability to destroy a planet has done nothing to dissuade us from having conventional war. But that's what we've always said with any new weapon. The Templin Institute video on planetary invasion had a great description of this.
https://youtu.be/XgN5yq362_s
Before WWII, strategic bombing was seen as a game ender. It's effects on breaking the enemy's will to fight is dubious at best. Strategic bombing and nuclear weapons did nothing to end war, or force the enemy to surrender. Even with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that was a country at its breaking point after fifteen years of near-constant conflict, and five years of a global war. And still, some holdouts tried to stage a coup to prevent the emperor from surrendering.
After WWII, there were those who believed the nuclear age put an end to conventional war. The air force insisted the Navy and Marines were obsolete. This was part of a conflict that would be known as the Revolt of the Admirals. Air Force General Frank A Armstrong was quoted in Nathan Miller's "The US Navy: A History":
"You gentlemen had better understand that the Army Air Force is tired of being a subordinate outfit. It was a predominant force during the war, and it is going to be a predominant force during the peace, and you might as well make up your minds whether you like it or not, and we do not care whether you like it or not. The Army Air Force is going to run the show. You, the Navy, are not going to have anything but a couple of carriers that are ineffective anyway, and they will probably be sunk in the first battle. Now as for the Marines, you know what the Marines are, a small bitched-up army talking Navy lingo. We are going to put those Marines in the Regular Army and make efficient soldiers out of them."
This was accompanied by:
"In the age of atomic warfare, the fast carrier task force was regarded as an anachronism, and such a massive concentration of ships was seen as being more vulnerable to the bomb than any other weapon system...some strategists doubted that the navy would have an important part to play in the future...Admiral Nimitz, then chief of naval operations, pointed out the same thing had been said about the navy when the submarine, the torpedo, and the airplane were introduced. 'While the prophets of naval doom are shouting themselves hoarse, the Navy will be at work to make the changes needed to accommodate American sea power to the new weapons,' he declared..."
They can't think of a war without nuclear weapons. Then the very first war we came across after WWII, Korea, they could not use nuclear weapons at all. Political, economic, or military reasons could all make orbital bombardment less than desirable in certain situations. The situation might prevent it politically. There's limited wars, there's rules of engagement, there's resources you need, there's stuff you want. On the other side of the equation the weapons might not show the results you expect. They might not be accurate, they might be affected by some new flaw, they're just not what you hoped. Or the enemy is more capable than you expect.
Heinlein said in Starship Troopers that "War is not violence and killing, pure and simple; war is controlled violence, for a purpose." Clausewitz once said that "War is a mere continuation of policy by other means". And I say that the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of "why on earth would you do that". If your goal is to conquer a planet, simply glassing it won't get you anything. If you wish to conquer and seize land, you need to send troops. You need someone to hold it and die for it.
So why in the world must this apply to everything but the wet navy? You will see people with big garrisons, you'll see Bolo cybertanks with megaton-per-second firepower, you'll see infantry doing guerilla warfare, you'll even see aircraft. Why is the wet navy seen as so obsolete in sci-fi circles? The largest vehicle ever built in the real world is the ship Seawise Giant, nearly twice the size of the Hindenburg, the largest flying machine ever built, and longer than the largest aircraft carriers ever. This means that a future battleship, carrier, or other vessel could be just as big and carry enormous weapons. Yet still folks insist that because surface ships can't throw a tarp over themselves, that they'll be sitting ducks.
Submarines I've noticed in some circles are a solution. They are small, sneaky, and can use lasers as much as missiles. Others say that they're vulnerable when launching, hence the laser idea. One cool idea I've seen is a boat that extends out big laser arrays on the surface connected by a tether to the sub hiding deep underwater, so that if the laser is shot the submarine is safe beneath the waves. Yet just as often when this idea is proposed, it is claimed that if a submarine pops up, they'll be bombed, insisting that satellites have advanced too far. I don't know enough to speak to that, but there's a lot of ocean. What do you gain by wasting ammo dropping rocks on 71% of the planet just to be sure they don't have a submarine hiding? Wouldn't that be an excellent reason to have submarines, just so the enemy has to waste ships patrolling and not hitting the land targets? That would mean fewer ships to the front line, if the defender has multiple planets, and force the enemy to expend resources.
The arguments eventually circle around to "we can nuke it". First of all, the ocean is big and it is deep. You'd trash the environment, including things you might want to conquer, if you vaporized thousands of square kilometers of sea water to kill a single hundred-meter sub. As I must repeat, the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of "why on earth would you do that?" During the Cold War, despite having the ability to glass the planet, we still built tanks, ships, and artillery, because there are certain kinds of war, certain modes of operation, certain things that don't involve total annihilation, because so often that's not what war is about. If you want to conquer a planet, you have to take it. The Soviets being able to annihilate Washington didn't magically alter the fact that they didn't have the ships to move any troops to hold it.
A submarine is one thing. If that can survive, why not a surface ship? Again, that tarp thing would be the answer. "They're sitting ducks!" One must ask why? During the Cold War, carriers were vulnerable, sure, but we still built them, and they can carry nukes too. And they can do a lot more things than a battleship can, from disaster relief to moving the crew's cars. A surface ship can be stealthy, just not as much as a sub. They can carry larger weapons than a sub, with more power to put through them.
While it's said a surface ship can't hide, neither can a starship, it's sitting up there shedding heat like mad. A surface ship has the whole planet to play with.
http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/2009/06/space-warfare-i-gravity-well.html
One scenario pitched to me recently is a bunch of corvettes and frigates loaded down with missiles and lasers that shoot their wad in the opening salvos like a lot of Cold War plans. But does it have to be that small?
Let me be clear. Current generations of naval vessels likely wouldn't stand a chance. But they create an interesting precedent, because there exist multiple anti-satellite(ASAT) weapon projects that we could extrapolate for use on a surface vessel. We have a ton of projects, from the MIRACL directed-energy weapon, to the ASM-135 air-launched missile, the YAL-1 Airborne Laser(ABL), to the RIM-161 Standard Missile 3(not technically anti-satellite, it's an anti-ballistic missile that has been used in ASAT roles). These are ground-based, air-launched, and sea-based. We also can think about space guns, i.e. weapons used to launch projectiles into space. Project HARP in the 1960s used modified 16-inch naval guns to launch projectiles high into space. They succeeded, and a mass driverailgun would likely be able to get the same performance out of a smaller package. Keep in mind, these weapons don't need to achieve orbit, they just need to hit something in orbit, so they can be much smaller. They were flawed, and less than accurate, but they do exist. So this means that we can speculate on the future of these weapons if they were more mature. And all of these could be mounted on relatively conventional platforms. Size isn't everything, yet a war machine's power isn't in just its armor, but in its ability to deliver offensive power as much as defensive power.
The MIRACL was ground-based, and not mobile; they tried to use it to shoot at a satellite. It didn't work well, they ended up using a smaller less powerful weapon for the job. The YAL-1 ABL was a 747 modified with a weapon of the same output as the MIRACL, only airborne. The ASM-135 was attached to a squadron of unmodified F-15s that would go into supersonic zoom climbs to launch the missiles. The RIM-161 is an anti-ballistic missile mounted on standard AEGIS VLS cells that has successfully intercepted satellites. 16-inch guns have been used on battleships for years. And with newer technologies, you don't need anything that dramatic, or that big. In the 1970s, the US experimented with an eight-inch gun mounted on a destroyer. That project didn't go very far, but it did function, and it means big guns can be mounted on small ships.
So, let me lay it out. F-15s(which people have considered using for aircraft carriers), conventional VLS cells, and cannons have precedent for being able to intercept spacecraft. Modern stealth systems do exist even for surface vessels, they can't hide as well, but they can carry a larger variety of weapons, and more powerful reactors than a sub. This creates precedent that modern destroyers, or something similar, and aircraft carriers, could serve a role in space warfare. As for surviving orbital bombardment? Super-cavitation is a process for reducing drag on a ship or a weapon's hull as it travels through the water. We also have hydrojets, hydrofoils, and other technologies that are deployed or in the works. Increasing the speed of a surface ship could be the difference between life and death for it.
A futuristic carrier group might consist of a carrier, smaller than ours perhaps, equipped with futuristic air-breathing aircraft, protected by destroyers and submarines. These destroyers are armed with energy weapons, missiles, and cannons capable of firing at targets in orbit. The submarines can do the same thing. The carrier can provide air support to land-based units and fire at the enemy in space without having to worry about needing specialized runways or that they might get hit in a first strike. The escorts can shoot at the enemy, provide gunfire support when needed, and light out at a hundred knots to escape the blast of an orbital bomb.
Now, there are certainly challenges. What warrants posting a large force like this on a planet that might not have any fighting? I'm not sure that is easy to answer, though one thought is to ask what's the point of the Kansas National Guard? They're not likely to see any combat anytime soon. On the other hand, navies in our world exist to fight potential threats. Depending on a setting, your colony world might only have one faction there. Having a trained naval force might be very useful for disaster relief and keeping the peace. EDIT: this could be useful to factions who don't have many ships, or are prepared for an eventuality where they are caught with their orbital defenses destroyed or driven away.
There's also reason for water-based Marines, with amphibious assault ships and all the bells and whistles therein; big transports, air cushion landing craft, helicopters, etc. What if the enemy lands across the continent? Or across an ocean? Might you need sea transportation? Imagine if you didn't have surface defenses. You have militia to play guerilla, and orbital defenses, and your colony only settled on one of two continents on the planet. The enemy blows up your orbital defenses, then steals some mining equipment and sets up a whole operation on the other side, eating up your planet's resources, sending them off to the war effort, while you're completely helpless because the biggest boat you have is a yacht. You can't fight back without being bombed, but you can't even fight back without that because you don't have any missiles, lasers, or any other weapons capable of hitting their ships, and more than that, you can't even get your four thousand militia over there to destroy the mine. A futuristic carrier group would make all the difference here, with access to amphibious assault equipment and other gear that can move in one go what could take months by helicopter.
One thing that keeps coming back in this debate is "but they could get bombed, why bother investing in them?" In the Cold War, trillions were invested in technologies they knew would get annihilated in any conflict. That a first strike could wipe out all our bombers and missiles in one stroke. And that is what second strike capability is about, the ability to hit back even if they hit you first. No matter how much you destroyed, no matter how many ships you sank, missiles you found, or bombers you shot, you could never ever be sure the enemy couldn't drop a hundred more nukes on you hidden somewhere. If even a single plane, a single fighter jet, with a single pilot, got through, millions would die. So much of modern warfare is based on the idea that this advanced weapon could easily be wiped out in a master stroke. EDIT: A surface navy could be used in an environment where friendly space vessels have been drawn away or otherwise incapacitated.
I submit that wet naval vessels are underutilized in sci-fi circles and could be more useful than expected even to factions who utilize starships, as a mobile source of energy and firepower that's bigger than anything ever put on land, and demonstrate strategic mobility and survivability their maneuverability have an advantage no stationary installation can match. They can respond to threats all over a planet, and engage with the enemy in space. Like how nuclear weapons didn't end the age of the carrier, I doubt orbital bombardment would put an end to the sea.
Let me know your thoughts, or suggestions you have for using sea vessels in the context of space warfare!
submitted by CptKeyes123 to scifiwriting [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 05:46 Sesemebun Is there a basic way to check for corruption in files you've had in storage/ use? (basic questions from newb)

So I have always hated forgetting or losing things, moreso than the average person. I buy books I like, write down the names of things, and will soon be converting my physical media (vhs/dvd/etc) to digital to have it in multiple places. I assume most here are of the same mindset as me, though maybe more dedicated. After being thoroughly confused by the wiki, and combing through old posts, I thought I should just ask a few questions.
I don't really need help with the actual copying part, there are plenty of guides out there (makeMKV seems to be the best suggestion for DVDs in this sub, according the wiki). I have also looked around for the actual storage device. I don't have enough data to be worth getting a server rack, and the more "manual" forms seem slow (like mdisc) since I plan to tap into these fairly often. What I will end up doing is probably having a couple USB drives, each with a copy of my "cache" of stuff, be it photos or movies or games or whatnot. Probably every 5 years I will just copy everything over to a new drive, to counteract any kind of physical deterioration with the drive (my research seems to point that they are finnicky when it comes to how long they can last). These caches will be large enough to not be worth combing through every time I copy stuff to check it works. At the time that I transfer the data, is there any kind of non-invasive software I can run the files through to make sure they are still readable? Because I don't want to go to look at a photo and see that 10 years ago it got corrupted and is gone.
TL;DR
I want to keep my stuff on USB drives to access often, but replace every 5 years. What can I do to ensure I don't lose whatever is on the drives? Or are there better options for this scenario than a flash drive?
(Thank you for your help, but please keep terminology and such on a low level, I am not my grandfather, but I am not super well versed with this kind of stuff)
submitted by Sesemebun to DataHoarder [link] [comments]


2024.05.14 03:28 melty2b [US][SELLING] KL Blu-Rays, Dr. Goldfoot, Scream Factory Blu-Rays, and Shout Select Pink Panther Collection

Hey mediaswap I got some more stuff I’m trying to part with from this collection I inherited
Free Shipping!
Always open to offers and happy to give discounts on bundles!
For Sale : https://imgur.com/a/vvDgeOr
Please let me know if you got any questions, or if I have made any errors! Thanks guys for looking have a good one :)
submitted by melty2b to MediaSwap [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 21:28 WouldaCouldaShouda LiL’ Bush: Resident of the United States (2007-2008)

LiL’ Bush: Resident of the United States (2007-2008)
The LiL’ Rumsfeld was Hilarious! All he did was grunt 😆
submitted by WouldaCouldaShouda to ForgottenTV [link] [comments]


2024.05.13 05:23 Cortez989 (Selling) New Inventory. List of 4K and HD Codes.

Prices are Firm. I will take $1 off for every $10 spent (discount applies with at least 5 codes purchased) Please only redeem the portion of the code you are paying for. Assume Disney Points are used unless noted. I accept Venmo or Paypal (friends and family). Thank you for looking.
4K

$5+
Finding Nemo: 4k MA (with 200 points)
$4
Ben-Hur: Itunes 4k (no port)
Exodus Gods and Kings: Itunes 4k (ports)
Get out: Itunes 4k (ports)
Gods of Egypt: Itunes 4k (no port)
Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters: Itunes 4k (no port)
Hellboy (2019) - Itunes 4k (no port)
Hell or High Water - Itunes 4k (no port)
Hustlers: Itunes 4k (no port)
La La Land: Itunes 4k (No Port)
Life of Pi: Itunes 4k (ports)
Lion King (Live): MA 4k (with 200 Points)
Maze Runner: Itunes 4k (port)
Mission Impossible Fallout: Itunes 4k (no port)
Oblivion: Itunes 4k (ports)
Onward: 4k MA (with 200 Points)
Ralph Breaks the Internet: MA 4k (with 200 Points)
Sherlock Gnomes - Itunes 4k (no Port)
Sicario: Itunes 4k (no port)
The Great Wall: Itunes 4k (Ports)
The Hitmans’s Bodyguard - Itunes 4k (no port)
The Martian: Itunes 4k (ports)
The Mummy (Cruise): Itunes 4k (ports)
Warcraft: Itunes 4k (Ports)
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot - Itunes 4k (No port)
Wolf of Wall Street: Itunes 4k (no port)
$3
Bourne Legacy: Itunes 4k (ports)
Despicable Me 2: Itunes 4k (ports)
Everest: Itunes 4k (ports)
Home Alone: 4k Itunes (ports)
How to Train your Dragon 2: Itunes 4k (ports)
If I Stay: 4k Itunes (no port)
Jack Reacher Never Go Back - Itunes 4k (no port)
John Wick: Itunes 4k (No Port)
John Wick 2 - Itunes 4k (no Port)
Les Miserables: Itunes 4k (ports)
Lets be Cops: Itunes 4k (ports)
Minions: Itunes 4k (ports)
Ninja Turtles: Itunes 4k (No Port)
Now you see Me: Itunes 4k (no port)
Pitch Perfect 2: Itunes 4k (ports)
R.I.P.D: Itunes 4k (ports)
Saban Power Rangers - Itunes 4k (No port)
Secret Life of Pets: Itunes 4k (ports)
Sherlock Gnomes: Itunes 4k (ports)
Suburbicon: Itunes 4k (no port)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Itunes 4k (no port)
The Fast and the Furious: Itunes 4k (ports)
X-Men Days of Future Past: Itunes 4k (ports)
What Men Want: Itunes 4k (no port)
$2
Deadpool: 4k Itunes (ports)
Divergent Series Insurgent: Itunes 4k (no port)
Fast and Furious 6: Itunes 4k (ports)
Hunger Games Catching Fire: Itunes 4k (no port)
Hunger Games Mocking Jay pt 1: Itunes 4k (no port)
Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit: Itunes 4k (no port)
Jurassic World: Itunes 4k (ports)
Lone Survivor: Itunes 4k (ports)
Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol: Itunes 4k (no port)
Star Trek into Darkness: Itunes 4k (no port)
World War Z: ITunes 4k (no port)
HD
$5+
Mamma Mia 2 Film Collection: MA HD $6
$4
Big Eyes: Vudu HD
Casper: MA Hd
Jungle Book (Cartoon) - MA HD
Mary Poppins - MA HD
Pocahontas: MA HD
Ready or Not: MA HD
Robots - MA HD
Sixteen Candles: Itunes HD (Ports)
Starship Troopers Invasion: MA HD
This is 40: MA HD
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri: MA HD
$3
12 Years a Slave - MA HD
All Eyes on Me: Itunes HD
Alita: Battle Angel - MA HD
American Girl: Grace Stirs up Success - Itunes HD (ports)
American Girl: Isabelle Dances into the Spotlight - Itunes HD (ports)
American Girl Saige Paints the Sky - MA and Itunes HD
Aloha: MA HD
American Hustle: MA HD
Angry Birds: MA HD
Barbie and her Sisters in a Puppy Chase: MA or Itunes HD
Beirut - MA HD
Boxtrolls: Itunes HD (no port)
Breakfast Club: MA and Itunes HD
Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 2: MA HD
Cowboys and Aliens: Itunes HD (ports)
Crawl: Itunes HD (no port)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days - MA HD
Diary of Wimpy Kid Long Haul - MA HD
Django Unchained - Vudu only HD
Dolitlle (2020): MA HD
Ex Machina - Vudu HD
Free Guy: MA HD
Fury: MA HD
Get out: MA HD
Guardians of the Galaxy: MA HD
Hacksaw Ridge - Vudu and Itunes HD
Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters: Vudu HD
Heaven is for Real - MA HD
Hellboy (2019) - Vudu HD
Hell or High Water - Vudu HD
Here Comes the Boom - MA HD
Hotel Transylvania 2: MA HD
How to Train your Dragon Hidden World: MA HD
Hundred Foot Journey: MA HD
Independence Day Resurgence - MA HD
Interstellar - Vudu and Itunes HD
Jobs - Itunes HD (ports)
Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle: MA HD
Jurassic Park The Lost World: MA HD
Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom - MA HD
La La Land: Vudu HD
Little Mermaid (Cartoon) MA HD
Logan: MA HD
Looper: MA HD
Mission Impossible Fallout: MA HD
Moneyball: MA HD
Monster Truck - Itunes HD (no Port)
Moonrise Kingdom: Ma and Itunes HD
Mummy Tomb of Dragon Emperor - MA HD
Night at the Museum: Secret of Tomb - MA HD
Oblivion: MA HD
Paddington: Vudu HD
Parker: MA HD
Percy Jackson the Lightning Thief: MA HD
Pirate Fairy - MA HD
Predators: MA HD
Premium Rush: MA HD
Pride and Prejudice Zombies: MA HD
Rio 2: MA or Itunes HD
Rush: MA or Itunes HD
Secret Life of Walter Mitty - MA and Itunes HD
Seond Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - MA HD
Shang-Chi Legend Of The Ten Rings: MA HD
Sicario: Vudu HD
Smurfs 2: MA HD
Spider-Man 3 - MA HD
Spiderman No Way Home: MA HD
The Interview: MA HD
The Magnificent Seven: Vudu HD
The Martian: MA HD
The Monuments Men: MA HD
The Mummy (Cruise): MA HD
The Shack: Vudu or Itunes HD
The Wolverine: MA HD
Venom - MA HD
Venom Let There be Carnage: MA HD
Warcraft: MA HD
War Room: HD MA
Wolf of Wall Street: Vudu HD
$2
13 Hours the Secret Soldiers on Benghazi: Vudu HD
22 Jump Street: MA HD
A Dog’s Purpose - MA and Itunes HD
After Earth - MA HD
A Good Day to Die Hard (Extended) - MA HD
Aladdin (Live) - MA HD
Alex Cross - Vudu and itunes HD
Anchorman 2: Vudu and Itunes HD
Avengers End Game - MA HD
Bad Moms - MA and Itunes HD
Beauty and the Beast (2017): MA HD
Big Hero 6 - MA HD
Black Panther - MA HD
Bourne Legacy - MA HD
Boss Baby: MA HD
Captain Marvel: MA HD
Cinderella (Live) MA HD
Dawn of the Planet Apes - MA HD
Despicable Me 2: MA HD
Despicable Me 3: MA HD
Doctor Strange - MA HD
Dr. Seuss The Lorax - MA and Itunes HD
Dumbo (Live) - MA HD
Epic: MA HD
Everest: MA HD
Fifty Shades Freed: MA HD
Finding Dory: MA HD
Florence Foster Jenkins: Vudu or Itunes HD
Frozen 2: MA HD
Good Dinosaur - MA HD
Guardians of the Galaxy 2: MA HD
Hercules: Vudu or Itunes HD
Hobbs and Shaw: MA HD
Home Again - MA HD
Home: MA HD
Hop: MA and Itunes HD
How to Train your Dragon: MA HD
Ice Age Continental Drift - MA HD
Inside Out: MA HD
Iron Man 3: MA HD
Jack Reacher: Vudu HD
Jack Reacher Never Go Back - Vudu HD
John Wick: Vudu HD
John Wick 2 - Vudu HD
Kingsman Golden Circle - MA HD
Kingsman Secret Service - MA HD
Killer Elite: Itunes HD (ports)
Kung Fu Panda 3: MA HD
Les Miserables: MA HD
Let’s Be Cops: MA HD
Lion King (1994): MA HD
Love Actually: MA HD
Lucy: MA HD
Madagascar 3: MA and Itunes HD
Maleficent - MA HD
Mary Poppin Returns - MA HD
Minions: MA HD
Mission Impossible Rogue Nation: Vudu and Itunes HD
Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children: MA HD
Moana: MA HD
Mr. Peabody and Sherman: MA HD
Murder on the Orient Express: MA HD
Noah: Vudu or Itunes HD
Now you see me: Vudu HD
Oz the Great and Powerful - MA HD
Paranormal Activity 3: Vudu or Itunes HD
Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters: MA HD
Pirates of the Caribbean DMTN - MA HD
Pitch Perfect 2: MA HD
Planes: MA HD
Red 2: MA and Itunes HD
Red Dawn: Vudu or GP HD
Resident Evil Retribution: MA HD
Rise of The Planet Apes - MA HD
Rise of Guardians: MA or Itunes HD
Safe House: MA and Itunes HD
Secret Life of Pets: MA HD
Sherlock Gnomes: Vudu HD
Sisters: MA and Itunes HD
Spider-Man Homecoming: MA HD
Spy: MA HD
Star Wars Last Jedi: MA HD
Star Wars Rogue One: MA HD
Taken 2: MA HD
Ted: MA and Itunes HD
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Vudu HD
The Amazing Spider-Man: MA HD
The Butler - Vudu HD
The Fast and the Furious: MA HD
The Greatest Showman: MA HD
The Grey: MA and Itunes
The Heat: MA HD
The Internship - MA HD
The Lion King (2019): MA HD
The Other Woman: MA and Itunes HD
The Revenant: MA HD
This is the end: MA HD
Thor Ragnarock - MA HD
Toy Story 4 - MA HD
White House Down: MA HD
Zootopia: MA HD
$1
Battleship: MA HD
Divergent Series Insurgent: Vudu HD
Fast and Furious 6: MA HD
Fast Five: MA HD
Fifty Shades of Grey: Ma or Itunes HD
Frozen: MA HD
Hunger Games Catching Fire: Vudu HD
Hunger Games Mocking Jay pt 1: Vudu HD
Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit: Vudu HD
Jurassic World: MA HD
Lone Survivor: MA HD
Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol: Vudu HD
Skyfall: Vudu or GP HD
Star Trek Beyond: Vudu HD
Star Trek Into Darkness: Vudu HD
Star Wars Force Awakens: MA HD
Transformers Age of Extinction: Vudu or Itunes HD
Twilight Breaking Dawn Pt 2: Vudu or Itunes HD
World War Z: Vudu HD
GP Split
$3
Pocahontas: Gp Split HD
$2
Cruella: Gp Split HD
Guardians of the galaxy: Gp HD split
$1
Avengers Endgame: Gp Split HD
Beauty and the Beast (2017): Gp Split HD
Big Hero: Gp Split HD
Captain Marvel: Gp Split HD
Coco: Gp Split HD
Doctor Strange: Gp Split HD
Frozen 2: Gp Split HD
Guardians of the Galaxy 2: Gp Split HD
Inside Out: Gp Split HD
Iron Man 3: Gp Split HD
Lion King (1994): Gp Split HD
Oz The Great Powerful: Gp Split HD
Star Wars Last Jedi: Gp Split Hd
Star Wars Rogue One: Gp Split HD
$0.50
Frozen: Gp Split HD
Star Wars Force Awakens: Gp Split HD
submitted by Cortez989 to DigitalCodeSELL [link] [comments]


2024.05.12 06:03 bondsthatmakeusfree Just finished watching every Godzilla movie from the first 50 years (excluding the American recuts and Zilla). Here is my ranking of the movies thus far from best to worst.

DISCLAIMER: Obviously, this is my personal opinion. It's totally cool if you disagree. I at the very least like the majority of the movies, and the bottom three are the only ones I consider to be actually bad. Yes, I will be watching the remaining ten Godzilla movies soon (or at least as soon as Godzilla Minus One is streamable or I can safely pirate it).
  1. Godzilla (1954) (8/10)
  2. The Return of Godzilla (8/10)
  3. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (8/10) (I genuinely cried.)
  4. Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah - Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (8/10) (only one I had to buy on DVD)
  5. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (7/10) (scariest Godzilla movie IMO) (first "Holy shit!" moment of the series when Hedorah shot out Godzilla's eye with a blast of toxic waste)
  6. Mothra vs. Godzilla (7/10) (I totally get why people love Mothra so much. Easily my favorite kaiju besides Godzilla.)
  7. Godzilla vs. Mothra (7/10)
  8. Godzilla vs. Biollante (7/10)
  9. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (7/10) (I genuinely want to cuddle Baby Godzilla)
  10. Terror of Mechagodzilla (7/10) (didn't expect to like this one as much as I did)
  11. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (7/10) (wasn't expecting to put this one this high on the list)
  12. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (7/10)
  13. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (7/10)
  14. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (7/10)
  15. Godzilla 2000: Millennium (6/10)
  16. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (6/10)
  17. Godzilla Raids Again (6/10) (worst Godzilla suit IMO)
  18. Destroy All Monsters (6/10)
  19. Godzilla vs. Gigan (6/10)
  20. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (6/10) (most disappointing, especially after the rest of the Heisei movies were damn good)
  21. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (6/10)
  22. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (5/10) (guilty pleasure)
  23. King Kong vs. Godzilla (5/10) (I don't get this one)
  24. Invasion of Astro-Monster (5/10) (I don't get this one either)
  25. Son of Godzilla (4/10) (most dopey Godzilla suit IMO)
  26. Godzilla vs. Megalon (3/10) (so bad it's good?)
  27. All Monsters Attack (3/10) (most skippable)
  28. Godzilla: Final Wars (2/10) (so bad it's good?)
submitted by bondsthatmakeusfree to GODZILLA [link] [comments]


2024.05.11 23:25 Sgtpepperhead67 Every Starship Troopers movie ranked from worst to best

after watching most (i am not watching anymore of Two) of the starship trooper films, here are my rankings
Last Place goes to...
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation
Cinematography was just dogshit to the point it gave me a head ache. characters were so poorly written that i hated them more than the bugs. and i just couldn't bring myself to watch past the 20 minute mark. by far the worst film.
Next is...
Starship Troopers 3: marauder
A Step up from number 2, but not by much. the first act of the film was actually really good. but it all fell apart after that. the best way i can describe it is "the star trek V of starship troopers". the characters are all written to be assholes besides johnny and his crew, and that's honestly all I can really say about it.
In third place we have...
Starship troopers: Invasion
The First animated film and the first one i can say i enjoyed. this film takes a lot more inspiration from Heinlein's original book but it stands out more in the next film. this film feels... horny, at least in the first act. the animation quality is still pretty good and action is plenty, more than 3 anyway. overall i enjoyed it much more than the previous two.
In second we have...
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars
The most recent troopers film and probably the best we'll see for a good long while. the Heinlein inspiration, as mentioned before is very noticeable. with troopers dawning full suits of powered combat armor fitted with jump packs, mounted heavy weapons similar to the heavy weapons described in the book, and they even drop into combat. the animation is brilliant for the most part and the story is very much the best the series has had since the original movie. the main cast can sometimes be annoying early on. but by the end they are a lot better.
An Honorable Mention goes to the...
Starship Troopers OVA (i haven't watched it, although i hear its really good)
In first place, you already know what's going here...
Starship Troopers
What is there to even say about the film. it is an epic and awesome war story. and the whole reason the franchise hasn't been forgotten by pop culture.
submitted by Sgtpepperhead67 to starshiptroopers [link] [comments]


2024.05.11 03:11 flippenphil (Offer) 50 rare & uncommon additions (Request) Bodies Bodies Bodies, the Marvels 4K, Poor Things, Priscilla, Sound of Freedom, the Untouchables, the whale, wish 4k, Devotion, Easter Sunday, the machine, redeeming love, Tin Cup, Trick r' Treat xml, Young Sherlock Holmes, New Releases & OFFERS

Updated: 05/11/2024
All Codes Traded for personal use only, rewards used & Codes are split
COMBO Films
MOVIES FN or MA
iTune Only MOVIES - No Port - Marked
GooglePlay Rare portions - NOT MA - Mention you want the slip with GP
TV Series Marked
FN Only
iTune Only
In Search Of LIST
submitted by flippenphil to uvtrade [link] [comments]


2024.05.09 21:15 Twister_JR IIL Dune and Star Wars, WEWIL

I'd like to see movies about aliens, other planets, extraterrestrial cultures, etc. I loved Dune's portrayal of different cultures like the fremen, harkonnen and atredies. And I really liked Star Wars planets like Coruscant filled with aliens and humans; also, the amount of different species and the technology is awesome. Not exactly looking for human vs alien race movies but, y'know, if it's really good, don't mind. Films I already watched related:
submitted by Twister_JR to ifyoulikeblank [link] [comments]


2024.05.08 13:48 mining_moron Profiles of Kyanah City States: Part I -- the Rktakian Kwardniet Road to Hope

The map again, for reference.
Some of the city-states! As previously mentioned, there is no exact count of the number of Kyanah city-states, but there is an exact count of Coalition of Cities members. Of these, the breakdown as of Y976 is 283 tier 1 cities, 1469 tier 2 cities, 1195 tier 3 cities, and 460 tier 4 cities. Tier 1 is usually characterized by "luxurious" living standards, basic needs being obtainable for all working packs, with a high variety and quality available for most consumer products and a near universal access to high-tech appliances, electronics, and robotics. Slums are virtually nonexistent. Tier 2 is characterized by "comfortable" living standards, basic needs are still generally obtainable, but there may not be as large of a variety of consumer products and luxuries are not as common. Slums are uncommon. Tier 3 is characterized by "adequate" living standards, power, water, and internet are generally present, but can be inconsistent and luxuries are sparse except for the upper classes. A significant minority of the population lives in slums. Tier 4 is characterized by "inadequate" living standards, a significant part of the population rarely if ever has necessary amenities, and the majority of the population lives in slums. Ikun. Location: 38N, 0W; Elevation: +0m; Population: 13.7 million; GDP: $2.8 trillion. Tier: 1. The largest economy and strongest military in the world--the only one with nukes in fact--equal parts revered and reviled across the world as the Hegemon. It is Ikun city-state who is responsible for the Kyanah invasion of Earth, with their four starships taking 20 Earth years to build and arriving after a 160 Earth year journey. It's rather like if humans were invading another planet, but instead of the combined forces of all humanity, it was just New York City. Ikun is at the center of the world both figuratively and literally, as the prime meridian is defined by a special monument in the city center, which also serves to define the baseline elevation in the absence of oceans on the Kyanah homeworld. Confusingly, though, hundreds of city-states define coordinates and elevation relative to their own locations, and the scientific community is increasingly gravitating towards the use of the planet's average elevation as a baseline. Ikun is a very modern and high-tech city, with many tall buildings over 200 meters high, their steel and concrete frames often covered with ornately detailed stone facades. Like most Kyanah architecture, tall buildings tend to have flying buttresses as a countermeasure against the high gravity, which all intermesh with each other to provide mutual support, making the aesthetic quite different from Earth cities. It sits at the center of a vast network of infrastructure, including the Water Distribution System, is a large trade hub, and has the largest spaceport in the world, with dozens of space stations for tourism, research, and zero-G manufacturing, especially of room temperature superconductors and superalloys. They also have constructed some of the only legitimate megaprojects in space in Kyanah history: the 2-kilometer-wide spinning-ring Interstellar Vehicle Assembly Hub (for processing asteroids and assembling the starships for Project Hope), the Project Hope starships themselves, a cycler that makes regular intersections with Ryitu (Tau Ceti f) and a base on said planet (rather similar in size and character to human Antarctic bases, with space for 1000 Kyanah, though their presence there has been downsized to a bit over 200 due to Project Hope).
Aside from their space industry, manufacturing in Ikun has been on the decline, (though the manufacturing and construction sectors are still vast by global standards, Ikun was no longer #1 before the start of Project Hope) with the economy increasingly pivoting to services, knowledge work, and finance; in fact one of the key goals of Project Hope was to revitalize domestic manufacturing. Standards of living in Ikun are fairly high even by the standards of the Rktakian Kwardniet, and extremely high by global standards, though they can vary a lot by district, and Project Hope has severely strained the economy. Ikun has an aggressive and interventionist foreign policy, maintaining a nuclear monopoly under threat of nuclear annihilation and regularly intervening in the domestic affairs of foreign city-states with both military action and sanctions. They have the most powerful military in the world, with around 150,000 personnel (slightly over 1% of the population) who have extremely high-tech equipment and advanced AI engines. However, overt regime changes have become less frequent under Nyektak-pack's administration in favor of exerting economic and diplomatic control through the Water Distribution System and other means. The city-state is a prime target for immigrants from all corners of the world, and hundreds of ethnic and linguistic groups in its borders--though educated Kyanah in most of the world tend to learn at least some of Ikun's native vernacular due to its considerable soft power. Ikun is located deep inside a large crater in a transition zone between seasonal plains and semi-arid desert, with the former being predominantly found to the north of the city. Temperatures vary considerably, from around 30C in the winter up to 60 in the summer. Ikun is a very chaotic and noisy city; buildings have traditionally just been plopped down wherever, with streets being added to accommodate them; music, radio, and TV broadcasts are being randomly blasted everywhere at all hours, and traffic can be quite aggressive and unpredictable--autonomous vehicles are a must to be able to safely navigate the streets. Being a huge city-state located in the middle of a crater, there is a nearly omnipresent industrial smog. However, the streets are kept relatively clean due to advanced technology and robotics--along with cheap immigrant labor. Activity in Ikun never really dies down, even in the middle of the night.
Nktan. Location: 38N, 0E (~25 km from Ikun); Elevation: +35m; Population: 2.3 million; GDP: $400 billion. Tier: 1. Nestled against the eastern wall of Ikun's crater, Nktan is actually just a part of the Ikun metropolitan area that was granted independence in Epoch 10 (Y640-Y703) to prevent Ikun city-state from becoming too large and unstable; it's the largest of four city-states created around that time for the same reason. Ikun, Nktan and the other three city-states are collectively known as the Craterzone (or by detractors as the Ikunzone or Greater Ikun, in reference to Ikun's massive influence on the area). The entire Craterzone has a population of just under 19 million. While Nktan has their own independent City Alpha, Lawspeakers, bureaucracy, and legal system, the entire Craterzone share the same language and currency, and citizens of one city-state are free to live and work in any of the other. Nktan's military, while equipped with very modern and high-tech gear from Ikun, are so small--eight army cohorts and two air force cohorts, or about 1700 Kyanah in total--as to be basically a formality, with the city-state almost entirely relying on Ikun's military and nuclear umbrella for protection. Nktan University, which is (obviously) located here, is considered to be the most prestigious university in the world (as a private university, students must be invited to attend rather than applying) and the surrounding districts have a distinct college town vibe in contrast to the vast corporate campuses and sprawling middle class high rises that dominate the rest of the city-state.
Ryden. Location: 41N, 5W (~800 km from Ikun); Elevation: +1200m; Population: 11.9 million; GDP: $2.0 trillion. Tier: 1. One of Ikun's closest major neighbors, so naturally it sees a lot of tourists from Ikun who are looking to go to a foreign city without traveling particularly far or having to deal with a drastically different culture. Culturally they are only slightly different from Ikun and the vernacular is close enough to be mutually intelligible without study, though some words and a few niche aspects of grammar are different, and the locals have a noticeably different accent. Other than that, Ryden is just another large and powerful Rktakian Kwardniet city-state with a post-industrial service/information economy, friendly relations with Ikun, and economic interests stretching around the world, including a fair bit of dabbling in Globalist doctrine and military interventionism--though far less than Ikun--and Kyanah living there enjoy all the comforts of a tier 1 city-state. As they are not down in a crater, the climate is slightly cooler, with the city-state being located firmly within a seasonal plains biome. Ryden is connected to Ikun and the city-state of Aktan by the Ryden-Aktan Highway, which extends across open land and is maintained by all three, along with various private companies. It's not shown on the map for space reasons, but there are about a dozen independent city-states along the road between Ikun and Ryden, ranging in population from around 200k up to a few million; the Rktakian Kwardniet is overall pretty densely populated.
Aktan. Location: 38N, 5E (~700 km from Ikun); Elevation: +1100m; Population: 10.6 million; GDP: $1.3 trillion. Tier: 1. Another one of Ikun's close neighbors, located at the far end of the Ryden-Akten Highway. Aktan is firmly inside the semi-arid desert biome, with climates almost the same as Ikun, and like most city-states in the Rktakian Kwardniet, has a high standard of living. During the Utopian Wars, Ikun and Aktan fought in Y788 and again in Y819-820, but during the Hegemony Era, they have consistently retained relatively solid relations, as Ikun has generally tried to avoid making enemies right next door. There are a number of medium-sized city-states between Ikun and Aktan, and like Ryden, Aktan often uses Ikun's spaceport--located along the Ryden-Aktan Highway--for its commercial space activity. Language and culture tend to be fairly similar to Ikun as well, though as with Ryden, there are noticeable differences in the vernacular and specific traditions.
Lakyanah. Location: 27N, 22W (~3800 km from Ikun); Elevation: +440m; Population: 0; GDP: $0. Tier: N/A. Located at the southwestern end of the Rktakian Kwardniet, not far from the edge of the Dunelands Basin. This is a former city-state that is no more, having been deleted by Ikun's nukes during the Day of Tower Clouds in Y831. At the time, this came as a shock to many, as Ikun and Lakyanah were staunch allies during the later years of the Utopian Wars. However, Lakyanah had rejected Ikun's offer to be under their nuclear umbrella, preferring instead to pursue their own independent nuclear weapons program. To Ikun, any nuclear proliferation was an unacceptable security risk, and so Lakyanah met the same fate as all 13 city-states pursuing nuclear weapons in Y831. It's believed that Lakyanah was just weeks away from its first nuclear test when the Day of Tower Clouds happened, which is probably why it happened when it did. With a 5.5 megaton fusion bomb to the city center and eight 200 kiloton fission bombs taking out every major military installation and infrastructure in the city-state, Lakyanah functionally didn't exist any more, and the survivors gradually trickled out to start over elsewhere; with the government, military, and infrastructure gone, and the looming threat of radiation poisoning (at the time, nobody knew for sure how long it would take to subside to safe levels), most Kyanah had no reason to remain in the area and it emptied out within a few years. In modern times, the radiation has subsided considerably and it's relatively safe to visit, but the city remains abandoned, with nature creeping in and many areas crumbling away or being buried under the sand. The area might remind a human observer of Pripyat, only with more ruins and outright leveled buildings along with the merely abandoned ones. As of Y976, it's been about 66 Earth years since the Day of Tower Clouds, most of the OG survivors are dead except a few who were hatchlings or children at the time, and their descendants have largely assimilated into nearby city-states. While there's no permanent population around Lakyanah's oasis, tourists and salvage companies looking to make some qoin do occasionally visit. It's possible that in the future, some group may migrate there to clean up the rubble and establish a new city-state under a different name, but this has yet to happen as of Y976.
Taktan. Location: 43N, 11W (~1700 km from Ikun); Elevation: +1300m; Population: <20k; GDP: Unknown. Tier: N/A. One of the first two city-states nuked by Ikun at the end of the Utopian Wars, in Y824; it was this abrupt destruction of an entire city-state that brought the chain reaction of the Utopian Wars to a halt in the first place. Like Lakyanah, the survivors abandoned the area after the city-state fell, but unlike Lakyanah, it does not remain completely abandoned. In the past 10-20 Earth years, companies have begun clearing away the remains of Taktan and developing properties there, and thousands of packs have moved into company towns in the vicinity. There is as yet no formal government, but it seems likely that a new city-state will be founded eventually. This area is in a seasonal plains biome, characterized by a mix of endoskeleton and exoskeleton type structured plants, with alternating periods of flower blooms, elevated fungal activity, and relatively dead, arid periods.
Awkoryah. Location: 27N, 24E (~4000 km from Ikun); Elevation: +500m; Population: 6.7 million; GDP: $450 billion. Tier: 2. One of the poorer city-states in the Rktakian Kwardniet, it is located at the southeast edge of the region, where semi-arid desert gives way to the hot desert of the Dunelands Basin. Some would in fact say it's an honorary Dunelands city-state at this point, as more than half the population are Dunelanders; many Kyanah from the eastern Dunelands immigrate here instead of pushing further into the Rktakian Kwardniet. While still having a higher standard of living than most (but not all) of the Dunelands, Awkoryah has seen better days; the manufacturing sector has been greatly reduced in the past couple of generations the same ecological disasters ravaging the Dunelands are also affecting them. "Awkoryah Sauce", a popular nyrud's blood based condiment takes its name from this city-state, though the actual product sold in Ikun is heavily modified for Ikun palates and no Kyanah from Awkoryah would be caught dead putting it on anything.
Kutwenyah. Location: 41N, 22E (~3000 km from Ikun); Elevation: +2400m; Population: 800k; GDP: $200 billion. Tier: 1. Positioned at the outskirts of the White Impact Range (one of the newer and thus more chaotic impact ranges), Kutwenyah is in a shattered biome, characterized by rapid swings in both climate and elevation, with a vast maze of craters, ejecta piles, and impact peaks, diverse micro-ecosystems hiding inside craters and harsh, windy conditions beyond the crater walls. Their economy is primarily based on a mix of tourism (packs coming to sightsee or climb the many craters and impact peaks) and luxury goods (ornate compute-watches, the Kyanah equivalent of a smartphone, and expensive alcohol are the most famous examples). However, it owes most of its influence to being the place where the Coalition of Cities, the largest and arguably most successful inter-city organization in history, was founded and the location of its headquarters. Thousands of packs of ambassadors visit throughout the year, looking to make deals with whatever diplomats they can find and advance the status of their home city-states. While ostensibly neutral, they maintain close economic ties to Ikun and in turn quietly keep them updated on any notable goings on with the Coalition, and sometimes, albeit rarely, straight up turn away diplomats whose presence would be inconvenient to Ikun.
submitted by mining_moron to goodworldbuilding [link] [comments]


2024.05.08 03:58 nikkojames This scene from Starship Troopers: Invasion reminds me of something…

This scene from Starship Troopers: Invasion reminds me of something… submitted by nikkojames to Helldivers [link] [comments]


http://activeproperty.pl/