Honda shadow spark plug wires
Spark Plug for 115
2023.05.30 20:53 HeyChason Spark Plug for 115
Having trouble figuring out exactly which spark plug to get for a 115 series. Are they somewhat universal? Can I get one at Walmart/Lowe’s?
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johndeere [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:52 lazymentors Marketing News Recap - What changed last Week?
Top 5 Updates of the Week:
- Tiktok is testing a AI chatbot to improve user interactions with content.
- Pinterest introduced new platform change to improve their algorithm, the linked post is complex, I will be breaking it all down next week & share a post.
- Youtube is retiring Youtube Stories next month.
- Google added 3 new AI features to Search for all users to access.
- Twitter is asking researchers to pay $42k or delete data it gave them.
- Microsoft published new 41 page report on How to govern AI usage, promoting safe AI usages.
Google:
- Google expands its Digital marketing coaching program for SMBs.
- Google announced new AI marketing tools for SMBs and marketers.
- Google top story badge replaced with Trusted store badges.
- Google search bug caused a huge drop in video traffic.
- Google sitename now support subdomains on mobile.
- Google Bard gains images with more coming soon.
- Google Marketing Live 2023 Event recap for you.
Tiktok:
- TikTok sues Montana to prevent the app ban in the US State.
- Adweek’s new research in how tiktok creators are not getting the same reach as before.
Instagram
- Instagram Search Ads API is now available via Instagram marketing API.
- Instagram will soon allow you to add music to your profile.
- Instagram was down this week and caused people rushing to twitter.
Meta :
- Meta sells Giphy to Shutterstock.
- Meta slashes business teams in final round of layoffs.
- 1.2 Billion euro fine is now issued for Facebook as a result of EUPB binding decision.
- Meta introduces promotional ads for Ecommerce deals.
- Meta is about to limit how it uses Ad data in UK after UK antitrust forces them.
- Meta’s open-source speech AI recognises 4,000 global languages.
Twitter:
- Twitter bot situation is getting out of hands.
- Twitter is likely to opt out of EU code against disinformation.
- Twitter is working on a “video for you” section to promote video content.
- Twitter announced a new API pricing to help startups use Twitter at a reasonable flat rate.
- Twitter Adds new Playback speed control features for Video.
YouTube:
- Youtube shares their insights on Youtube algorithm for creators.
- Youtube launched Quiz posts on iOS and web.
- Youtube starts a weekly series on Intro to Live shopping.
- Youtube community posts feature is now available to all channels.
LinkedIn:
- LinkedIn Added 5 new Insights-backed features to Sales navigator.
- LinkedIn launched new security features: verified job posting & message alerts.
Snapchat:
- Snapchat reaches 200M Active users in India.
- Snapchat enhanced AR try-on tools as it continues to grow its AR capabilities.
Reddit:
- Reddit shared new insights about how new apps are discovered through daily App discussions.
- Reddit users are getting spam followers due to an ongoing spam campaign.
Advertising:
- Walmart working on providing Ad creative services to advertisers of all sizes.
- Lebron james joins Taco bell for “Taco Tuesday” trademark campaign.
- Disney & booking (com) making a huge spark with their new campaign.
Sales:
- Amazon’s Generative AI sales playbook got leaked.
Microsoft & AI
- Bing integrates itself with ChatGPT.
- Bing chat doubles chat character limit.
Pinterest:
- Many Platforms say they have Gen-Z using their app. But Pinterest shuffle is getting the real love.
Marketing:
- Discord gets custom streaming deck hardware and a big plug-in upgrade.
- Monday .com announces new integration with Microsoft teams.
- Neeva search engine, acquired by Snowflake after going private last week.
- MrBeast’s feastables brand is now available in every 7/11 in US.
- Peloton working on their new identity of more than a bike company.
What are your thoughts on all these recent updates and changes? You can subscribe here to receive these updates every week with sources. submitted by
lazymentors to
Marketingcurated [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:50 lazymentors What changed in marketing & Social Media this week?
Tiktok is launching AI Chatbot & Google AI search results are public (Hot Changes In Marketing)
Top 5 Updates of the Week:
- Tiktok is testing a AI chatbot to improve user interactions with content.
- Pinterest introduced new platform change to improve their algorithm, the linked post is complex, I will be breaking it all down next week & share a post.
- Youtube is retiring Youtube Stories next month.
- Google added 3 new AI features to Search for all users to access.
- Twitter is asking researchers to pay $42k or delete data it gave them.
- Microsoft published new 41 page report on How to govern AI usage, promoting safe AI usages.
Google:
- Google expands its Digital marketing coaching program for SMBs.
- Google announced new AI marketing tools for SMBs and marketers.
- Google top story badge replaced with Trusted store badges.
- Google search bug caused a huge drop in video traffic.
- Google sitename now support subdomains on mobile.
- Google Bard gains images with more coming soon.
- Google Marketing Live 2023 Event recap for you.
Tiktok:
- TikTok sues Montana to prevent the app ban in the US State.
- Adweek’s new research in how tiktok creators are not getting the same reach as before.
Instagram
- Instagram Search Ads API is now available via Instagram marketing API.
- Instagram will soon allow you to add music to your profile.
- Instagram was down this week and caused people rushing to twitter.
Meta :
- Meta sells Giphy to Shutterstock.
- Meta slashes business teams in final round of layoffs.
- 1.2 Billion euro fine is now issued for Facebook as a result of EUPB binding decision.
- Meta introduces promotional ads for Ecommerce deals.
- Meta is about to limit how it uses Ad data in UK after UK antitrust forces them.
- Meta’s open-source speech AI recognises 4,000 global languages.
Twitter:
- Twitter bot situation is getting out of hands.
- Twitter is likely to opt out of EU code against disinformation.
- Twitter is working on a “video for you” section to promote video content.
- Twitter announced a new API pricing to help startups use Twitter at a reasonable flat rate.
- Twitter Adds new Playback speed control features for Video.
YouTube:
- Youtube shares their insights on Youtube algorithm for creators.
- Youtube launched Quiz posts on iOS and web.
- Youtube starts a weekly series on Intro to Live shopping.
- Youtube community posts feature is now available to all channels.
LinkedIn:
- LinkedIn Added 5 new Insights-backed features to Sales navigator.
- LinkedIn launched new security features: verified job posting & message alerts.
Snapchat:
- Snapchat reaches 200M Active users in India.
- Snapchat enhanced AR try-on tools as it continues to grow its AR capabilities.
Reddit:
- Reddit shared new insights about how new apps are discovered through daily App discussions.
- Reddit users are getting spam followers due to an ongoing spam campaign.
Advertising:
- Walmart working on providing Ad creative services to advertisers of all sizes.
- Lebron james joins Taco bell for “Taco Tuesday” trademark campaign.
- Disney & booking (com) making a huge spark with their new campaign.
Sales:
- Amazon’s Generative AI sales playbook got leaked.
Microsoft & AI
- Bing integrates itself with ChatGPT.
- Bing chat doubles chat character limit.
Pinterest:
- Many Platforms say they have Gen-Z using their app. But Pinterest shuffle is getting the real love.
Marketing:
- Discord gets custom streaming deck hardware and a big plug-in upgrade.
- Monday .com announces new integration with Microsoft teams.
- Neeva search engine, acquired by Snowflake after going private last week.
- MrBeast’s feastables brand is now available in every 7/11 in US.
- Peloton working on their new identity of more than a bike company.
What are your thoughts on all these recent updates and changes? You can
subscribe here to receive these updates every week with sources.
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lazymentors to
Entrepreneur [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:50 GlaxxFace Cruiser bike recommendations ( No Harleys Please )
Hey yall. I currently have an R6 but i wanna get a cruiser bike along side my sport bike. My girlfriend wants to be a backpack lol but doesnt want to get on the YZF. I was looking at some of the Honda VTXs and Shadows as well as Yamaha Bolts.
This bike will really only be used when she wants to take a ride through town or the mountains here in Fort Collins Colorado.
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GlaxxFace to
motorcycle [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:50 Sunny_bearr48 Contributing factors to “low voltage”?
Hello :) I’m trying to conceptually understand factors that contribute to an error message that means low voltage. I’m providing details but if other factors need to be added, pls lmk.
I am working with a power system I installed in my van. The input is 400watts of solar panels through a 40amp charge controller into 300aH lithium phosphate battery bank. There are positive and negative bus bars to an inverter for AC and a fuse block for DC.
The appliance in question is my fridge. It has a DC outlet cord and an AC outlet cord. When I use the DC outlet cord, it works during the day. The screen will read between 12-14v and temperature stays in my target range. However, later in the day this voltage drops into the 9-11v range and will read F1 which the manual says is low voltage. When I use the AC outlet cord, there is no issue so far.
Can you help me understand factors that would contribute to intermittent low voltage? I’m not sure if time of day / solar input is relevant. We are getting a lot of sun and the battery level is always over 70%. The fridge is the only load on its circuit. It has a 10a fuse that is not blown. i used 14awg wire with ring terminals to the fuse block and plug terminals to the dc outlet.
TIA! I really appreciate any leads on things to research bc most important to me is understanding a gap or vulnerability in my setup. The fridge works on AC but my brain wants to know why not DC?
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Sunny_bearr48 to
askanelectrician [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:33 PhoenixMV Internet Issues: Dropping Wifi, Dead Zones etc
hey guys, I am in the computer sec/It field and have a bit of knowledge of networking but not enough to try and troubleshoot what I need to do here.
Currently have Fios Gb internet with an ext via coaxial in the basement. I am trying to fix some dead zones as my family is always complaining. Currently, the setup is in the spare bedroom(above the garage) and my computer is wired in with a 50ft wire through the wall. We need to ext the wifi to the outside to a gazebo and nothing I'm doing seems to work.
I am currently trying to set up an old Linksys EA4500 in Bridge mode but it is causing my LAN to randomly drop on my computer while also randomly dropping signal on my phone. I also have a Linksys Velop Mesh (2 set) that I want to set up to ext to outside but nothing seems to working. Any advice?
Currently, the EA4500 is plugged into the Fios Router which is in bridge mode (EA4500). I have the Linksys Velop also in my room and figured I can connect it to the EA4500 so it can be closer to the outside window(which is right above the gazebo) The other Velop tower is in the gazebo.
(Dead Zones: Kitchen, Master Bedroom, Family Room)
Equipment: Cisco Linksys EA4500, New Fios Gig Router+Modem, Linksys Velop WHW03(2 Towers)
Any other info needed just ask! Thanks!
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PhoenixMV to
HomeNetworking [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:33 J_babyy Lack of power
I have a 2002 Honda Shadow Ace 750 with 14,000 miles on it. I am really new to motorcycles. The bike itself runs great. Where I’m seeing lack of power is on the highway. I will be full throttle but it tops out at around 80-85mph. Granted I know 750s aren’t gonna be super fast but I’ve seen bikes just like mine hold the same speed and can still go faster. Anything I can do?
To add, my chain does have slack in it and I’m adjusting it today. Are there any other issues I need to be looking out for or is nothing wrong with it and I’m just going crazy?
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J_babyy to
hondashadow [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:32 drtonedog Spark Go works with Airstep Spark Bluetooth footswitch!!
I've had the spark 40 since it dropped - replaced the speakers and plugged the bass port and it sounds great...I also purchased the wireless airstep spark footswitch to use with the Spark 40 - nice!
When i got my GO, I did some research and found that after a firmware update of the GO and my airstep footswitch, they work like with the spark 40....the GO and the footswitch work together perfectly...
Using mode 2 on the airstep, I can scroll up and down between my four presets and dedicated footswitches for drive, mod, and delay, just like on my spark 40 - this is fantastic!
Modes 1,2, and 3 all work with GO - have not tried looper mode
Nothing worked right until i did the latest firmware updates for both GO and the airstep.
So pack the Go and the footswitch and a picnic basket and you are jamming everywhere - no electricity needed (for a while)...epic
https://xsonicaudio.com/pages/airstepsparkedition $60 currently
"The Ultimate Foot Controller for Spark 40 & MINI & Go"
Ferda, boys....(allegedly)
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drtonedog to
PositiveGridSpark [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:30 This_guy_breaks_shit Honda XL125V V5 bad compression on both cylinders.
Hi, All
I know this subreddit is for cars, but this is an issue that can occur in cars as well so I'm sure it's still relevant. 6 months ago I bought a Varadero 125 with 28k miles from facebook marketplace for cheap (as it didn't start due to clogged carbs, amongst other things I'll get into). It rides fine, definitely wasn't taken care of. It's got a small amount of rust across the whole thing, fork seals were blown, rubber brake hoses were 13 years old and the front master cylinder leaks a very small amount (I'll get to it as soon as I can afford it).
So into the present day
During my interim service yesterday we decided to perform a compression test. Back cylinder read 110 psi and the front 75 (bear in mind 11.8:1 compression ratio). The head gaskets are brand new due to the repairs that it underwent after I bought it (sent it away as I deemed the big stuff a little too much for my first job) so I know it can't be them.
My guess is of two things: Cylinder wall + piston rings or valves.
It may be the valves as one of the repairs performed was an exhaust valve replacement on the rear cylinder (2 valve SOHC) due to overspeed by the previous owner. That's the cylinder with the better compression. The one with bad compression is still on the old exhaust valve. I believe it's possible that the rear valve being bent may have damaged the seat, resulting in poor compression. I also believe the front exhaust valve may still be ever so slightly bent (again, could also have a damaged seat due to the bent valve).
Alternatively, I believe it could be the cylinder wall as there were traces of cursed milkshake on the oil filler cap. The bike has been through plenty of abuse so I don't doubt there has been improper piston lubrication on more than one occasion. Other evidence to back up that idea are traces of oil on the spark plugs and a significant amount of airflow leaving the crank case when the filler cap is removed (which I assume to be blow-by).
Now that the symptoms and my "diagnosis" is out of the way, onto solutions.
I've found a machine shop in wales that will check the quality of my valve seals for £15 with a vacuum. They'll also hone my cylinders for £20 each which I find to be quite reasonable (though if I go through, I'll be sure to check they are using a real honing machine and not one of those nasty drill tools). That makes both repairs very feasible. The biggest issue is in regards to the piston rings. Wemoto are charging a whopping £84.60 for a pair of rings which I would rather not pay if I can help it.
So what do you think I should do? Are new rings the way to go? Is it worth getting the walls honed before putting new rings in? Is it worthwhile to get my valves checked by the shop, or can I do it myself with more commonplace tools and methods? If I do need to buy new rings, can I get ones of comparable or better quality than the Wemoto ones for a slightly more reasonable price?
Most importantly, are there any other jobs that may need doing judging by the description I've provided? I can imagine it's been through a lot but besides the poor compression I'm yet to identify anything else that's actually wrong with it.
Any and all input is welcome. Thanks if you made it this far.
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This_guy_breaks_shit to
MechanicAdvice [link] [comments]
2023.05.30 20:30 TheDrungeonBlaster Gutterpunks Reloaded #7:100 Dead Nazis
-Red-
April 19th, 11:13 A.M., The Sprawl
I sparked a dilapidated Vita-Cig that I’d snagged from Trodes and peered out into the Sprawl; the careful equilibrium of a well-orchestrated black-market had returned; pushers and gangers lined the alleys, watching for signals from rooftop lookouts to avoid the single Peacewatch cruiser that had been stupid enough to enter the dockside. The poor bastard would be dead before the afternoon was over… not that I had much sympathy for his kind. Peacewatch made it a habit to stay out of the Sprawl: unless the Eggheads predictive crime system said something catastrophic was coming, they policed their kind and left us in the hands of the mob. I’d never iced an officer. Not yet at least.
“Your partner should be ready shortly, I think he’s just tying up a few loose ends,” Akari said, snatching the cigarette from my hand and taking a long drag.
“Remind me again why you think I should take the shrimp with me instead of Nico and Roman?”
“He’s smart… and the other two are working on something else. Besides-- you need brains on this one, Red, not muscle,” she giggled, passing the cigarette back.
“Whatever you say,” I paused, grabbing the smoke, “what do you have them up to?”
“There’s a shipment of Xeno-grade weapons coming down from the colonies. Nico and Roman will be liberating them from the Slicers. Or, their share, at least. It won’t be much, maybe a dozen guns, but it’ll be worth it: the force field tech alone will pay for the trip as soon as Fincetti’s goons start trying to take your heads off with plasma cannons and mono blades.”
“What do you mean, their share?”
“The job was too big for us to take on alone. I linked up with another enterprising group of Freelancers. If it goes well, maybe we can hire them on for the heist, we’re going to need more people if we want to walk out of there alive.”
We?
“What, are you planning on coming along now?” I asked, snuffing out the smoke.
“It only seems right; Trodes is coming along, and I’m a better shot than he’ll ever be. Besides, you have a dangerous habit of getting shot, and I can’t have you going down in the field,” she said, winking as if to punctuate the sentence.
“You sure? We can manage, you don’t have to come with us, you’ve done so much already.”
“I know I have, that’s why I have to protect my investment. If you go down out there, then the team is without a leader. A military scale operation like this will go south real fast without someone competent in command.”
“You’ve got me wrong, Akari: I’m no leader. I’m just someone who wants to live in a better city and doesn’t mind taking the trash out himself. Besides, why do we need a leader? We’re all competent adults acting in concert, of our own free will. We all know what we’re doing, if a situation arises and someone needs to take charge, it’ll happen.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in a crew you just met,” Akari said with a sneer.
“You know why I asked you to put the team together, Akari?”
“Because there’s a bounty on your head that could finance twenty retirements, and you know you can trust me?”
“No, well yeah, but that’s beside the point—I asked you because you’re not a Fixer, you’re a part time street doc that works the front desk at the most popular Freelancer hotel in the Sprawl. If there’s anyone who knows who’s gonna get the job done, it’s you. See, a Fixer is going to be okay with whatever losses they deem acceptable beforehand, but they’re fine with keeping that to themselves. If you thought any of these mooks were going to crack under pressure, or do something stupid, you wouldn’t have set me up with them.”
Before she could respond, Trodes emerged from the stairs leading to the lab. He winced as the sunlight hit his eyes, shrugging on the hood of the oversized sweatshirt that blanketed his meek frame. Glimpses of pain showed through every tremor laden step he took. A cloak of wires enveloped his skull, feeding into an old-world cyber console.
“It’s insufferably hot out here,” Trodes sighed.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going far. Chances are that whatever hole we’re meeting BFU in will have air conditioning,” I responded, clicking my key fob, and signaling the bike to pull around.
Trodes face fell flat when the Supersonic rolled around the corner; apparently, the prestige of carving through the skyway on a state-of-the-art Taffington jet-bike was lost on him.
“Are we taking… that?” Trodes stammered.
“We are. Unless you’ve got a pair of wheels with two seats?” I asked, mounting the bike and revving the engine.
With an exasperated sigh, Trodes boarded the passenger seat. I could feel him behind me, vibrating as tremors gripped his body.
“You good, buddy?” I asked.
He nodded vigorously, clenching the handrails with white knuckles.
Akari shook her head and headed back to the lab.
I heard Trodes mumble something under his breath, but it was quickly drowned out by the jet-bike’s purr. I carved into the skyway. Driving in the Sprawl was pure freedom: almost nobody owned vehicles with aerial capabilities in this part of town. It didn’t take long to reach top speed.
Slummers and gutterpunks walked the streets like zombies in a drug addled haze. The scent of gunpowder, pollution and burning ozone coalesced into a putrid stench that reeked of poverty and violence. Patches of azure moved in militant formation below; the Vorrath had taken to the streets. On a different day, a better day, I would’ve helped them. Most slummers hated the Offworlder Coalition, but not me—at the end of the day I always figured that I had more in common with poor people from another planet than rich people from another district of the city. At least we shared the same struggle.
The bike slowed to crawl; the Neo-Confederates were about, backed by a platoon of Brown-Shirts that looked like a tide of sewer run off, crashing through the streets with reckless abandon. Civilians fled for their homes. Fuck.
The jet-bike careened through the air before finally landing atop a building a few blocks away from the impending conflict.
“Get off,” I said, turning back to Trodes.
“Why? You don’t intend to abandon me at this altitude, do you?”
“Not as long as I survive—I’ll be quick, I just need to ventilate some Nazi fucks, understood?”
He shook his head and muttered a string of curses.
I tore through the air, circling around the impending conflict. I chased a handful of cheap amphetamines with a poorly rolled joint and swooped low, behind the rolling tide of brown shirts. This wasn’t the first time I’d made myself an enemy of the city’s Neo-Nazi’s; I’d killed at least a dozen of them in my career as a courier, but those were isolated incidents, back-alley brawls away from the mob.
This was a whole new ball game.
I fell slack as my Teleoperations module synchronized with the bike. My consciousness faded, reemerging into the HALO-Net’s stylized rendition of the bike’s interior. I wasn’t just the pilot now—I was the bike. Bullets carved twin streaks of crimson into the brown tide. It didn’t take long to hit top speed, 3.7 seconds, to be exact.
The group turned in nearly perfect unison, launching volley upon volley as I passed overhead. The bike’s shields barely held together; I felt every round, like a flock of birds violently slamming into my side—not enough to cause any real damage, but more than enough to get the blood pumping. I slid into an alley a few blocks off and waited for the shield generator to recharge. Gunshots rang out from the streets, alongside the sizzle of plasma meeting flesh. Soon the din was drowned beneath the roar of dozens of Vorrath war cries. I took to the sky.
Trodes was exactly where I left him, nervously clutching a knock off version of a Locust flechette pistol.
“I was beginning to doubt your survival,” Trodes said shakily.
“Wrong again, little guy,” I paused, reigniting a half smoked joint, “it was just a quick hit and run, we don’t have the time or the numbers for a pitched battle. Now, hop on.”
It didn’t take long to find BFU’s base of operations. Black flags and Anarchist graffiti covered the walls of the abandoned warehouse they’d apparently taken up residence in. A field of repurposed Peacewatch turrets were installed atop the roof, complimented by a web of cameras that spread across a three-block radius. Anarchists of all species and creeds loitered outside. The guards ranged from Cyborgs and Vat-Grown, to Vorrath and Vorstihl, each wearing a variant of the black flag with colors corresponding to their ideologies.
As I hovered above the building, I saw a familiar face: the rookie from earlier. Alarmingly, his cruiser was nowhere to be seen. His face was wrought with horror, as a pair of cyborgs led him inside the warehouse.
“They’re certainly less than subtle,” Trodes said.
“They don’t have to be subtle, they’re the biggest citizens political organization in the Sprawl. Peacewatch avoids them if they have anything less than a full platoon on hand,” I explained.
“Red… before we enter negotiations with these hooligans, I must inquire as to what your motivation hitting the vault is? Surely you know there’s a strong likelihood that you won’t make it out, and from what I’d heard about you, I always understood you to be a man who knew how to keep himself out of the line of sight of dangerous people,” Trodes said, nervously.
“Fincetti is the most dangerous man in the city, short of O’Bannon. He controls the black market with an iron fist and is instrumental in all the things I hate about living here. The problem is, I have no way to do anything about it right now… but there’s something big in the safe—there must be—for fucks sake, he iced his family over it. I’m hoping there’s something in there that can give me a little leverage, so I can cross him out afterwards.”
Trodes was silent for a moment, simply reaching as if to ask me to pass the joint. I obliged.
“I have my reasons to want O’Bannon dead too, I’m in,” he paused as a coughing fit seized him, causing the joint to fall to the ground, “there’s something you should know though: I’m working with an entity of great power in the Net; I don’t know what precisely it is, but I know it saved my life more than once. As a matter of fact, it’s the only reason I was able to obtain the blueprint of Fincetti’s bunker, and his security plan.”
“Is it… is it an unshackled AI?”
“Unlikely: it seems to understand compassion and empathy on a uniquely organic level, something that rarely slips past Netwatch.”
“Alright, well whatever it is, you keep an eye on it and let me know if things get shady. I appreciate you telling me.”
Trodes nodded in silence.
The crowd parted expectantly as I landed along the streetside. Dozens of eyes were immediately glued to Trodes and I. A cyborg with a steel double mohawk emerged from a sea of leather, patches, and smoke. A sawed-off shotgun hung at his side.
“Red, I presume?” the Cyborg asked, extending a steel hand.
“That’s right, and who’re you?” I answered, clasping the borgs hand as firm as I could manage.
“They call me Diezel, and I’ll be your host today,” he released my hand and looked me up and down as if assessing whether I was a threat, “follow me, everyone’s here so we can get straight down to business.”
The warehouse’s interior had been renovated drastically; layers of open-faced lofts sat stacked upon each other, consuming the walls. Nearly every non-violent law in the city was being broken in the lofts, from cooking chems and explosives to studying banned literature and Doomguard martial arts. It was beautiful. We followed Diezel through a winding hallway of munitions manufacturing stations, before finally emerging into an immense circular room, with rows of seats climbing the walls. I couldn’t believe it—there must have been two hundred people present.
The lights dimmed as we entered the arena. Diezel led us to the rooms center, ushering Trodes and I onto a great circular platform; he fell into place on a platform across from us, beside a Vat-Grown woman bearing an orange and black flag on her arm, and augmentations that cost more than my bike. Behind the duo a bulbous Vorstihl lurked; tentacles draped down his back, carefully pulled away from his cyclopean eye. A red and black flag was displayed on his arm… it was only then that I noticed the blue and black flag on Diezel’s arm.
The platforms each rose roughly fifteen feet into the air, before microphone stands emerged from the center of each platform. Diezel stepped forward, past the microphone.
“Before we start, I’ll explain how this works: the three of us are representatives of our specific unions—but the people are free to interject. One union voting to aid in your endeavors does not guarantee the help of the other two, as each union demands a perfect consensus. Likewise, if a faction without one union decides to help you, it does not necessarily mean you have the support of the entire union. The only way you’ll end up with total support is cross union consensus. Do you understand?”
A consensus: of course, they needed a damned consensus.
“I do,” I answered, speaking away from the microphone.
“Then let’s get this show on the road,” Diezel stepped back, finding his microphone before continuing, “Red, Trodes, welcome to the Bouleuterion,” he paused a moment as the crowd erupted into cheers, “beside me are my comrades Aria and Korvirex, and we stand ready to hear your proposal.”
“As most of you probably know, Don Fincetti is the most powerful man in the underworld, hell—maybe even the city—what you likely don’t know is that he has a vault beneath the city, guarded by an army of Harvesters. I intend to break into the vault, slaughter the Harvesters and strike a blow to Fincetti that he won’t forget… and I intend to kill him shortly after. What I ask is simple: you help me in what’s to come, and when he’s finally dead, you can all split his turf among yourselves. All I care about is making sure he doesn’t live long enough to poison the Sprawl more than he already has.”
A murmur emerged from the stands. I gazed across the way to see the three representatives huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. Finally, Aria stepped towards her microphone.
“What you ask of us will likely mean the death of many of our people… we need something greater than what you offer—we need a guarantee of mutual aid—you have a reputation in the Sprawl, we would ask that you employ it in helping us when the time comes to resettle the Sprawl. Namely, we’d request your assistance against the gangs that may try to fill the power void you seek to create,” Aria explained.
“That seems reasonable,” I said.
Aria stepped back as Korvirex moved forward.
“Tell me, Red, are you familiar with the Offworlder Coalition?” Korvirex asked.
“I am—as a matter of fact, I aided them on the way here—they were marching against the Neo-Confederates and the Brown Shirts. I insured that they had the element of surprise.”
Korvirex stroked the beard-like tentacles that hung from his chin in contemplation.
“Good. What I ask is that you help us to secure their trust, we have offered solidarity where we could, but our forces are spread thin. The ideology of many of the exiled Vorrath rebels that found their way to Nova City—it matches that of our union. If our help was offered, would you agree to assist us in aiding the Coalition, so that they finally have an opportunity to get on their feet?”
Trodes leaned towards in, whispering in my ear.
“It would be prudent of you to make a counteroffer: proclaim that you’ll help with the Coalition, if they’ll spread the word to other groups whose goals may align with ours. There will likely be at least a couple hundred Harvesters in the Undercity when we strike… unless they’re occupied elsewhere.”
“I would happily help with the Coalition, on the condition that your faction spread the word about what we’re doing to like-minded organizations. As it stands, we could still use more numbers to match the Harvesters,” I said.
“These conditions may be satisfactory,” Korvirex said, before retreating into yet another group huddle.
The audience watched on in silence.
Finally, Diezel reapproached the microphone.
“The representatives have deemed this topic worthy of discussion: you’re free to leave, we’ll get ahold of Akari in a couple days, when all the details are ironed out.”
“A couple days?”
“Reaching a consensus can be a slow process at times—be prepared for a renegotiation of conditions, as there will likely be more stipulations made once the process is complete,” Diezel explained.
I nodded, and the platform beneath my feet began to descend towards the floor. The crowd erupted into cheers.
Hopefully Nico and Roman would beat us home.
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2023.05.30 20:29 TheDrungeonBlaster [SF] Gutterpunks Reloaded #7: 100 Dead Nazis
-Red-
April 19th, 11:13 A.M., The Sprawl
I sparked a dilapidated Vita-Cig that I’d snagged from Trodes and peered out into the Sprawl; the careful equilibrium of a well-orchestrated black-market had returned; pushers and gangers lined the alleys, watching for signals from rooftop lookouts to avoid the single Peacewatch cruiser that had been stupid enough to enter the dockside. The poor bastard would be dead before the afternoon was over… not that I had much sympathy for his kind. Peacewatch made it a habit to stay out of the Sprawl: unless the Eggheads predictive crime system said something catastrophic was coming, they policed their kind and left us in the hands of the mob. I’d never iced an officer. Not yet at least.
“Your partner should be ready shortly, I think he’s just tying up a few loose ends,” Akari said, snatching the cigarette from my hand and taking a long drag.
“Remind me again why you think I should take the shrimp with me instead of Nico and Roman?”
“He’s smart… and the other two are working on something else. Besides-- you need brains on this one, Red, not muscle,” she giggled, passing the cigarette back.
“Whatever you say,” I paused, grabbing the smoke, “what do you have them up to?”
“There’s a shipment of Xeno-grade weapons coming down from the colonies. Nico and Roman will be liberating them from the Slicers. Or, their share, at least. It won’t be much, maybe a dozen guns, but it’ll be worth it: the force field tech alone will pay for the trip as soon as Fincetti’s goons start trying to take your heads off with plasma cannons and mono blades.”
“What do you mean, their share?”
“The job was too big for us to take on alone. I linked up with another enterprising group of Freelancers. If it goes well, maybe we can hire them on for the heist, we’re going to need more people if we want to walk out of there alive.”
We?
“What, are you planning on coming along now?” I asked, snuffing out the smoke.
“It only seems right; Trodes is coming along, and I’m a better shot than he’ll ever be. Besides, you have a dangerous habit of getting shot, and I can’t have you going down in the field,” she said, winking as if to punctuate the sentence.
“You sure? We can manage, you don’t have to come with us, you’ve done so much already.”
“I know I have, that’s why I have to protect my investment. If you go down out there, then the team is without a leader. A military scale operation like this will go south real fast without someone competent in command.”
“You’ve got me wrong, Akari: I’m no leader. I’m just someone who wants to live in a better city and doesn’t mind taking the trash out himself. Besides, why do we need a leader? We’re all competent adults acting in concert, of our own free will. We all know what we’re doing, if a situation arises and someone needs to take charge, it’ll happen.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in a crew you just met,” Akari said with a sneer.
“You know why I asked you to put the team together, Akari?”
“Because there’s a bounty on your head that could finance twenty retirements, and you know you can trust me?”
“No, well yeah, but that’s beside the point—I asked you because you’re not a Fixer, you’re a part time street doc that works the front desk at the most popular Freelancer hotel in the Sprawl. If there’s anyone who knows who’s gonna get the job done, it’s you. See, a Fixer is going to be okay with whatever losses they deem acceptable beforehand, but they’re fine with keeping that to themselves. If you thought any of these mooks were going to crack under pressure, or do something stupid, you wouldn’t have set me up with them.”
Before she could respond, Trodes emerged from the stairs leading to the lab. He winced as the sunlight hit his eyes, shrugging on the hood of the oversized sweatshirt that blanketed his meek frame. Glimpses of pain showed through every tremor laden step he took. A cloak of wires enveloped his skull, feeding into an old-world cyber console.
“It’s insufferably hot out here,” Trodes sighed.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going far. Chances are that whatever hole we’re meeting BFU in will have air conditioning,” I responded, clicking my key fob, and signaling the bike to pull around.
Trodes face fell flat when the Supersonic rolled around the corner; apparently, the prestige of carving through the skyway on a state-of-the-art Taffington jet-bike was lost on him.
“Are we taking… that?” Trodes stammered.
“We are. Unless you’ve got a pair of wheels with two seats?” I asked, mounting the bike and revving the engine.
With an exasperated sigh, Trodes boarded the passenger seat. I could feel him behind me, vibrating as tremors gripped his body.
“You good, buddy?” I asked.
He nodded vigorously, clenching the handrails with white knuckles.
Akari shook her head and headed back to the lab.
I heard Trodes mumble something under his breath, but it was quickly drowned out by the jet-bike’s purr. I carved into the skyway. Driving in the Sprawl was pure freedom: almost nobody owned vehicles with aerial capabilities in this part of town. It didn’t take long to reach top speed.
Slummers and gutterpunks walked the streets like zombies in a drug addled haze. The scent of gunpowder, pollution and burning ozone coalesced into a putrid stench that reeked of poverty and violence. Patches of azure moved in militant formation below; the Vorrath had taken to the streets. On a different day, a better day, I would’ve helped them. Most slummers hated the Offworlder Coalition, but not me—at the end of the day I always figured that I had more in common with poor people from another planet than rich people from another district of the city. At least we shared the same struggle.
The bike slowed to crawl; the Neo-Confederates were about, backed by a platoon of Brown-Shirts that looked like a tide of sewer run off, crashing through the streets with reckless abandon. Civilians fled for their homes. Fuck.
The jet-bike careened through the air before finally landing atop a building a few blocks away from the impending conflict.
“Get off,” I said, turning back to Trodes.
“Why? You don’t intend to abandon me at this altitude, do you?”
“Not as long as I survive—I’ll be quick, I just need to ventilate some Nazi fucks, understood?”
He shook his head and muttered a string of curses.
I tore through the air, circling around the impending conflict. I chased a handful of cheap amphetamines with a poorly rolled joint and swooped low, behind the rolling tide of brown shirts. This wasn’t the first time I’d made myself an enemy of the city’s Neo-Nazi’s; I’d killed at least a dozen of them in my career as a courier, but those were isolated incidents, back-alley brawls away from the mob.
This was a whole new ball game.
I fell slack as my Teleoperations module synchronized with the bike. My consciousness faded, reemerging into the HALO-Net’s stylized rendition of the bike’s interior. I wasn’t just the pilot now—I was the bike. Bullets carved twin streaks of crimson into the brown tide. It didn’t take long to hit top speed, 3.7 seconds, to be exact.
The group turned in nearly perfect unison, launching volley upon volley as I passed overhead. The bike’s shields barely held together; I felt every round, like a flock of birds violently slamming into my side—not enough to cause any real damage, but more than enough to get the blood pumping. I slid into an alley a few blocks off and waited for the shield generator to recharge. Gunshots rang out from the streets, alongside the sizzle of plasma meeting flesh. Soon the din was drowned beneath the roar of dozens of Vorrath war cries. I took to the sky.
Trodes was exactly where I left him, nervously clutching a knock off version of a Locust flechette pistol.
“I was beginning to doubt your survival,” Trodes said shakily.
“Wrong again, little guy,” I paused, reigniting a half smoked joint, “it was just a quick hit and run, we don’t have the time or the numbers for a pitched battle. Now, hop on.”
It didn’t take long to find BFU’s base of operations. Black flags and Anarchist graffiti covered the walls of the abandoned warehouse they’d apparently taken up residence in. A field of repurposed Peacewatch turrets were installed atop the roof, complimented by a web of cameras that spread across a three-block radius. Anarchists of all species and creeds loitered outside. The guards ranged from Cyborgs and Vat-Grown, to Vorrath and Vorstihl, each wearing a variant of the black flag with colors corresponding to their ideologies.
As I hovered above the building, I saw a familiar face: the rookie from earlier. Alarmingly, his cruiser was nowhere to be seen. His face was wrought with horror, as a pair of cyborgs led him inside the warehouse.
“They’re certainly less than subtle,” Trodes said.
“They don’t have to be subtle, they’re the biggest citizens political organization in the Sprawl. Peacewatch avoids them if they have anything less than a full platoon on hand,” I explained.
“Red… before we enter negotiations with these hooligans, I must inquire as to what your motivation hitting the vault is? Surely you know there’s a strong likelihood that you won’t make it out, and from what I’d heard about you, I always understood you to be a man who knew how to keep himself out of the line of sight of dangerous people,” Trodes said, nervously.
“Fincetti is the most dangerous man in the city, short of O’Bannon. He controls the black market with an iron fist and is instrumental in all the things I hate about living here. The problem is, I have no way to do anything about it right now… but there’s something big in the safe—there must be—for fucks sake, he iced his family over it. I’m hoping there’s something in there that can give me a little leverage, so I can cross him out afterwards.”
Trodes was silent for a moment, simply reaching as if to ask me to pass the joint. I obliged.
“I have my reasons to want O’Bannon dead too, I’m in,” he paused as a coughing fit seized him, causing the joint to fall to the ground, “there’s something you should know though: I’m working with an entity of great power in the Net; I don’t know what precisely it is, but I know it saved my life more than once. As a matter of fact, it’s the only reason I was able to obtain the blueprint of Fincetti’s bunker, and his security plan.”
“Is it… is it an unshackled AI?”
“Unlikely: it seems to understand compassion and empathy on a uniquely organic level, something that rarely slips past Netwatch.”
“Alright, well whatever it is, you keep an eye on it and let me know if things get shady. I appreciate you telling me.”
Trodes nodded in silence.
The crowd parted expectantly as I landed along the streetside. Dozens of eyes were immediately glued to Trodes and I. A cyborg with a steel double mohawk emerged from a sea of leather, patches, and smoke. A sawed-off shotgun hung at his side.
“Red, I presume?” the Cyborg asked, extending a steel hand.
“That’s right, and who’re you?” I answered, clasping the borgs hand as firm as I could manage.
“They call me Diezel, and I’ll be your host today,” he released my hand and looked me up and down as if assessing whether I was a threat, “follow me, everyone’s here so we can get straight down to business.”
The warehouse’s interior had been renovated drastically; layers of open-faced lofts sat stacked upon each other, consuming the walls. Nearly every non-violent law in the city was being broken in the lofts, from cooking chems and explosives to studying banned literature and Doomguard martial arts. It was beautiful. We followed Diezel through a winding hallway of munitions manufacturing stations, before finally emerging into an immense circular room, with rows of seats climbing the walls. I couldn’t believe it—there must have been two hundred people present.
The lights dimmed as we entered the arena. Diezel led us to the rooms center, ushering Trodes and I onto a great circular platform; he fell into place on a platform across from us, beside a Vat-Grown woman bearing an orange and black flag on her arm, and augmentations that cost more than my bike. Behind the duo a bulbous Vorstihl lurked; tentacles draped down his back, carefully pulled away from his cyclopean eye. A red and black flag was displayed on his arm… it was only then that I noticed the blue and black flag on Diezel’s arm.
The platforms each rose roughly fifteen feet into the air, before microphone stands emerged from the center of each platform. Diezel stepped forward, past the microphone.
“Before we start, I’ll explain how this works: the three of us are representatives of our specific unions—but the people are free to interject. One union voting to aid in your endeavors does not guarantee the help of the other two, as each union demands a perfect consensus. Likewise, if a faction without one union decides to help you, it does not necessarily mean you have the support of the entire union. The only way you’ll end up with total support is cross union consensus. Do you understand?”
A consensus: of course, they needed a damned consensus.
“I do,” I answered, speaking away from the microphone.
“Then let’s get this show on the road,” Diezel stepped back, finding his microphone before continuing, “Red, Trodes, welcome to the Bouleuterion,” he paused a moment as the crowd erupted into cheers, “beside me are my comrades Aria and Korvirex, and we stand ready to hear your proposal.”
“As most of you probably know, Don Fincetti is the most powerful man in the underworld, hell—maybe even the city—what you likely don’t know is that he has a vault beneath the city, guarded by an army of Harvesters. I intend to break into the vault, slaughter the Harvesters and strike a blow to Fincetti that he won’t forget… and I intend to kill him shortly after. What I ask is simple: you help me in what’s to come, and when he’s finally dead, you can all split his turf among yourselves. All I care about is making sure he doesn’t live long enough to poison the Sprawl more than he already has.”
A murmur emerged from the stands. I gazed across the way to see the three representatives huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. Finally, Aria stepped towards her microphone.
“What you ask of us will likely mean the death of many of our people… we need something greater than what you offer—we need a guarantee of mutual aid—you have a reputation in the Sprawl, we would ask that you employ it in helping us when the time comes to resettle the Sprawl. Namely, we’d request your assistance against the gangs that may try to fill the power void you seek to create,” Aria explained.
“That seems reasonable,” I said.
Aria stepped back as Korvirex moved forward.
“Tell me, Red, are you familiar with the Offworlder Coalition?” Korvirex asked.
“I am—as a matter of fact, I aided them on the way here—they were marching against the Neo-Confederates and the Brown Shirts. I insured that they had the element of surprise.”
Korvirex stroked the beard-like tentacles that hung from his chin in contemplation.
“Good. What I ask is that you help us to secure their trust, we have offered solidarity where we could, but our forces are spread thin. The ideology of many of the exiled Vorrath rebels that found their way to Nova City—it matches that of our union. If our help was offered, would you agree to assist us in aiding the Coalition, so that they finally have an opportunity to get on their feet?”
Trodes leaned towards in, whispering in my ear.
“It would be prudent of you to make a counteroffer: proclaim that you’ll help with the Coalition, if they’ll spread the word to other groups whose goals may align with ours. There will likely be at least a couple hundred Harvesters in the Undercity when we strike… unless they’re occupied elsewhere.”
“I would happily help with the Coalition, on the condition that your faction spread the word about what we’re doing to like-minded organizations. As it stands, we could still use more numbers to match the Harvesters,” I said.
“These conditions may be satisfactory,” Korvirex said, before retreating into yet another group huddle.
The audience watched on in silence.
Finally, Diezel reapproached the microphone.
“The representatives have deemed this topic worthy of discussion: you’re free to leave, we’ll get ahold of Akari in a couple days, when all the details are ironed out.”
“A couple days?”
“Reaching a consensus can be a slow process at times—be prepared for a renegotiation of conditions, as there will likely be more stipulations made once the process is complete,” Diezel explained.
I nodded, and the platform beneath my feet began to descend towards the floor. The crowd erupted into cheers.
Hopefully Nico and Roman would beat us home
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2023.05.30 20:28 kleedog_millionaire Question - Battery Jump Packs
I’m looking at purchasing a battery jump pack for an upcoming motorcycle trip, as an emergency backup type of thing. I see a lot of positive feedback on the NocoBoost ones, but this is more of a convenience question. Do they make any that you can plug into trickle charge leads? I feel like it might be too high of wattage/amperage for the gauge of wire in those leads, but I could be wrong…
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2023.05.30 20:26 pumpkinheadforbhb Is this spark plug bad ?
2023.05.30 20:25 TheDrungeonBlaster Gutterpunks Reloaded #8: 100 Dead Nazis
-Red-
April 19th, 11:13 A.M., The Sprawl
I sparked a dilapidated Vita-Cig that I’d snagged from Trodes and peered out into the Sprawl; the careful equilibrium of a well-orchestrated black-market had returned; pushers and gangers lined the alleys, watching for signals from rooftop lookouts to avoid the single Peacewatch cruiser that had been stupid enough to enter the dockside. The poor bastard would be dead before the afternoon was over… not that I had much sympathy for his kind. Peacewatch made it a habit to stay out of the Sprawl: unless the Eggheads predictive crime system said something catastrophic was coming, they policed their kind and left us in the hands of the mob. I’d never iced an officer. Not yet at least.
“Your partner should be ready shortly, I think he’s just tying up a few loose ends,” Akari said, snatching the cigarette from my hand and taking a long drag.
“Remind me again why you think I should take the shrimp with me instead of Nico and Roman?”
“He’s smart… and the other two are working on something else. Besides-- you need brains on this one, Red, not muscle,” she giggled, passing the cigarette back.
“Whatever you say,” I paused, grabbing the smoke, “what do you have them up to?”
“There’s a shipment of Xeno-grade weapons coming down from the colonies. Nico and Roman will be liberating them from the Slicers. Or, their share, at least. It won’t be much, maybe a dozen guns, but it’ll be worth it: the force field tech alone will pay for the trip as soon as Fincetti’s goons start trying to take your heads off with plasma cannons and mono blades.”
“What do you mean, their share?”
“The job was too big for us to take on alone. I linked up with another enterprising group of Freelancers. If it goes well, maybe we can hire them on for the heist, we’re going to need more people if we want to walk out of there alive.”
We?
“What, are you planning on coming along now?” I asked, snuffing out the smoke.
“It only seems right; Trodes is coming along, and I’m a better shot than he’ll ever be. Besides, you have a dangerous habit of getting shot, and I can’t have you going down in the field,” she said, winking as if to punctuate the sentence.
“You sure? We can manage, you don’t have to come with us, you’ve done so much already.”
“I know I have, that’s why I have to protect my investment. If you go down out there, then the team is without a leader. A military scale operation like this will go south real fast without someone competent in command.”
“You’ve got me wrong, Akari: I’m no leader. I’m just someone who wants to live in a better city and doesn’t mind taking the trash out himself. Besides, why do we need a leader? We’re all competent adults acting in concert, of our own free will. We all know what we’re doing, if a situation arises and someone needs to take charge, it’ll happen.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in a crew you just met,” Akari said with a sneer.
“You know why I asked you to put the team together, Akari?”
“Because there’s a bounty on your head that could finance twenty retirements, and you know you can trust me?”
“No, well yeah, but that’s beside the point—I asked you because you’re not a Fixer, you’re a part time street doc that works the front desk at the most popular Freelancer hotel in the Sprawl. If there’s anyone who knows who’s gonna get the job done, it’s you. See, a Fixer is going to be okay with whatever losses they deem acceptable beforehand, but they’re fine with keeping that to themselves. If you thought any of these mooks were going to crack under pressure, or do something stupid, you wouldn’t have set me up with them.”
Before she could respond, Trodes emerged from the stairs leading to the lab. He winced as the sunlight hit his eyes, shrugging on the hood of the oversized sweatshirt that blanketed his meek frame. Glimpses of pain showed through every tremor laden step he took. A cloak of wires enveloped his skull, feeding into an old-world cyber console.
“It’s insufferably hot out here,” Trodes sighed.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going far. Chances are that whatever hole we’re meeting BFU in will have air conditioning,” I responded, clicking my key fob, and signaling the bike to pull around.
Trodes face fell flat when the Supersonic rolled around the corner; apparently, the prestige of carving through the skyway on a state-of-the-art Taffington jet-bike was lost on him.
“Are we taking… that?” Trodes stammered.
“We are. Unless you’ve got a pair of wheels with two seats?” I asked, mounting the bike and revving the engine.
With an exasperated sigh, Trodes boarded the passenger seat. I could feel him behind me, vibrating as tremors gripped his body.
“You good, buddy?” I asked.
He nodded vigorously, clenching the handrails with white knuckles.
Akari shook her head and headed back to the lab.
I heard Trodes mumble something under his breath, but it was quickly drowned out by the jet-bike’s purr. I carved into the skyway. Driving in the Sprawl was pure freedom: almost nobody owned vehicles with aerial capabilities in this part of town. It didn’t take long to reach top speed.
Slummers and gutterpunks walked the streets like zombies in a drug addled haze. The scent of gunpowder, pollution and burning ozone coalesced into a putrid stench that reeked of poverty and violence. Patches of azure moved in militant formation below; the Vorrath had taken to the streets. On a different day, a better day, I would’ve helped them. Most slummers hated the Offworlder Coalition, but not me—at the end of the day I always figured that I had more in common with poor people from another planet than rich people from another district of the city. At least we shared the same struggle.
The bike slowed to crawl; the Neo-Confederates were about, backed by a platoon of Brown-Shirts that looked like a tide of sewer run off, crashing through the streets with reckless abandon. Civilians fled for their homes. Fuck.
The jet-bike careened through the air before finally landing atop a building a few blocks away from the impending conflict.
“Get off,” I said, turning back to Trodes.
“Why? You don’t intend to abandon me at this altitude, do you?”
“Not as long as I survive—I’ll be quick, I just need to ventilate some Nazi fucks, understood?”
He shook his head and muttered a string of curses.
I tore through the air, circling around the impending conflict. I chased a handful of cheap amphetamines with a poorly rolled joint and swooped low, behind the rolling tide of brown shirts. This wasn’t the first time I’d made myself an enemy of the city’s Neo-Nazi’s; I’d killed at least a dozen of them in my career as a courier, but those were isolated incidents, back-alley brawls away from the mob.
This was a whole new ball game.
I fell slack as my Teleoperations module synchronized with the bike. My consciousness faded, reemerging into the HALO-Net’s stylized rendition of the bike’s interior. I wasn’t just the pilot now—I was the bike. Bullets carved twin streaks of crimson into the brown tide. It didn’t take long to hit top speed, 3.7 seconds, to be exact.
The group turned in nearly perfect unison, launching volley upon volley as I passed overhead. The bike’s shields barely held together; I felt every round, like a flock of birds violently slamming into my side—not enough to cause any real damage, but more than enough to get the blood pumping. I slid into an alley a few blocks off and waited for the shield generator to recharge. Gunshots rang out from the streets, alongside the sizzle of plasma meeting flesh. Soon the din was drowned beneath the roar of dozens of Vorrath war cries. I took to the sky.
Trodes was exactly where I left him, nervously clutching a knock off version of a Locust flechette pistol.
“I was beginning to doubt your survival,” Trodes said shakily.
“Wrong again, little guy,” I paused, reigniting a half smoked joint, “it was just a quick hit and run, we don’t have the time or the numbers for a pitched battle. Now, hop on.”
It didn’t take long to find BFU’s base of operations. Black flags and Anarchist graffiti covered the walls of the abandoned warehouse they’d apparently taken up residence in. A field of repurposed Peacewatch turrets were installed atop the roof, complimented by a web of cameras that spread across a three-block radius. Anarchists of all species and creeds loitered outside. The guards ranged from Cyborgs and Vat-Grown, to Vorrath and Vorstihl, each wearing a variant of the black flag with colors corresponding to their ideologies.
As I hovered above the building, I saw a familiar face: the rookie from earlier. Alarmingly, his cruiser was nowhere to be seen. His face was wrought with horror, as a pair of cyborgs led him inside the warehouse.
“They’re certainly less than subtle,” Trodes said.
“They don’t have to be subtle, they’re the biggest citizens political organization in the Sprawl. Peacewatch avoids them if they have anything less than a full platoon on hand,” I explained.
“Red… before we enter negotiations with these hooligans, I must inquire as to what your motivation hitting the vault is? Surely you know there’s a strong likelihood that you won’t make it out, and from what I’d heard about you, I always understood you to be a man who knew how to keep himself out of the line of sight of dangerous people,” Trodes said, nervously.
“Fincetti is the most dangerous man in the city, short of O’Bannon. He controls the black market with an iron fist and is instrumental in all the things I hate about living here. The problem is, I have no way to do anything about it right now… but there’s something big in the safe—there must be—for fucks sake, he iced his family over it. I’m hoping there’s something in there that can give me a little leverage, so I can cross him out afterwards.”
Trodes was silent for a moment, simply reaching as if to ask me to pass the joint. I obliged.
“I have my reasons to want O’Bannon dead too, I’m in,” he paused as a coughing fit seized him, causing the joint to fall to the ground, “there’s something you should know though: I’m working with an entity of great power in the Net; I don’t know what precisely it is, but I know it saved my life more than once. As a matter of fact, it’s the only reason I was able to obtain the blueprint of Fincetti’s bunker, and his security plan.”
“Is it… is it an unshackled AI?”
“Unlikely: it seems to understand compassion and empathy on a uniquely organic level, something that rarely slips past Netwatch.”
“Alright, well whatever it is, you keep an eye on it and let me know if things get shady. I appreciate you telling me.”
Trodes nodded in silence.
The crowd parted expectantly as I landed along the streetside. Dozens of eyes were immediately glued to Trodes and I. A cyborg with a steel double mohawk emerged from a sea of leather, patches, and smoke. A sawed-off shotgun hung at his side.
“Red, I presume?” the Cyborg asked, extending a steel hand.
“That’s right, and who’re you?” I answered, clasping the borgs hand as firm as I could manage.
“They call me Diezel, and I’ll be your host today,” he released my hand and looked me up and down as if assessing whether I was a threat, “follow me, everyone’s here so we can get straight down to business.”
The warehouse’s interior had been renovated drastically; layers of open-faced lofts sat stacked upon each other, consuming the walls. Nearly every non-violent law in the city was being broken in the lofts, from cooking chems and explosives to studying banned literature and Doomguard martial arts. It was beautiful. We followed Diezel through a winding hallway of munitions manufacturing stations, before finally emerging into an immense circular room, with rows of seats climbing the walls. I couldn’t believe it—there must have been two hundred people present.
The lights dimmed as we entered the arena. Diezel led us to the rooms center, ushering Trodes and I onto a great circular platform; he fell into place on a platform across from us, beside a Vat-Grown woman bearing an orange and black flag on her arm, and augmentations that cost more than my bike. Behind the duo a bulbous Vorstihl lurked; tentacles draped down his back, carefully pulled away from his cyclopean eye. A red and black flag was displayed on his arm… it was only then that I noticed the blue and black flag on Diezel’s arm.
The platforms each rose roughly fifteen feet into the air, before microphone stands emerged from the center of each platform. Diezel stepped forward, past the microphone.
“Before we start, I’ll explain how this works: the three of us are representatives of our specific unions—but the people are free to interject. One union voting to aid in your endeavors does not guarantee the help of the other two, as each union demands a perfect consensus. Likewise, if a faction without one union decides to help you, it does not necessarily mean you have the support of the entire union. The only way you’ll end up with total support is cross union consensus. Do you understand?”
A consensus: of course, they needed a damned consensus.
“I do,” I answered, speaking away from the microphone.
“Then let’s get this show on the road,” Diezel stepped back, finding his microphone before continuing, “Red, Trodes, welcome to the Bouleuterion,” he paused a moment as the crowd erupted into cheers, “beside me are my comrades Aria and Korvirex, and we stand ready to hear your proposal.”
“As most of you probably know, Don Fincetti is the most powerful man in the underworld, hell—maybe even the city—what you likely don’t know is that he has a vault beneath the city, guarded by an army of Harvesters. I intend to break into the vault, slaughter the Harvesters and strike a blow to Fincetti that he won’t forget… and I intend to kill him shortly after. What I ask is simple: you help me in what’s to come, and when he’s finally dead, you can all split his turf among yourselves. All I care about is making sure he doesn’t live long enough to poison the Sprawl more than he already has.”
A murmur emerged from the stands. I gazed across the way to see the three representatives huddled together, whispering amongst themselves. Finally, Aria stepped towards her microphone.
“What you ask of us will likely mean the death of many of our people… we need something greater than what you offer—we need a guarantee of mutual aid—you have a reputation in the Sprawl, we would ask that you employ it in helping us when the time comes to resettle the Sprawl. Namely, we’d request your assistance against the gangs that may try to fill the power void you seek to create,” Aria explained.
“That seems reasonable,” I said.
Aria stepped back as Korvirex moved forward.
“Tell me, Red, are you familiar with the Offworlder Coalition?” Korvirex asked.
“I am—as a matter of fact, I aided them on the way here—they were marching against the Neo-Confederates and the Brown Shirts. I insured that they had the element of surprise.”
Korvirex stroked the beard-like tentacles that hung from his chin in contemplation.
“Good. What I ask is that you help us to secure their trust, we have offered solidarity where we could, but our forces are spread thin. The ideology of many of the exiled Vorrath rebels that found their way to Nova City—it matches that of our union. If our help was offered, would you agree to assist us in aiding the Coalition, so that they finally have an opportunity to get on their feet?”
Trodes leaned towards in, whispering in my ear.
“It would be prudent of you to make a counteroffer: proclaim that you’ll help with the Coalition, if they’ll spread the word to other groups whose goals may align with ours. There will likely be at least a couple hundred Harvesters in the Undercity when we strike… unless they’re occupied elsewhere.”
“I would happily help with the Coalition, on the condition that your faction spread the word about what we’re doing to like-minded organizations. As it stands, we could still use more numbers to match the Harvesters,” I said.
“These conditions may be satisfactory,” Korvirex said, before retreating into yet another group huddle.
The audience watched on in silence.
Finally, Diezel reapproached the microphone.
“The representatives have deemed this topic worthy of discussion: you’re free to leave, we’ll get ahold of Akari in a couple days, when all the details are ironed out.”
“A couple days?”
“Reaching a consensus can be a slow process at times—be prepared for a renegotiation of conditions, as there will likely be more stipulations made once the process is complete,” Diezel explained.
I nodded, and the platform beneath my feet began to descend towards the floor. The crowd erupted into cheers.
Hopefully Nico and Roman would beat us home.
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2023.05.30 20:14 Justinorino Car battery keeps dying
Honda Accord 2007 EX-L. Car was sitting idle for a year and some months but was in a garage. I got the car, it worked perfectly fine for about a month then the battery began dying. We assumed it was the battery, so after a month of it sitting I got a battery for it and it worked perfectly for about two days. I let it sit out yesterday, I didn’t have to drive, and when I went to go drive it today the battery was dead.
Anyone know what this could be? There’s no weird noises or other indications as to what it is. It’s not automatic lights but I turn the lights off every time, I have a car charger plugged in all the time but I don’t think that would draw too much power from a new battery.
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2023.05.30 20:13 dietpepsiaddict7733 Mail day - 1995-96 Topps Spark Plugs Michael Jordan
2023.05.30 20:13 HylandSeek Nest won’t turn on after wire set up
I just wanted to confirm I set my wiring up correctly because when I plug the nest in, nothing happens and it doesn’t turn on. The old system was Emerson. It had a black and brown wire not attached to anything. I took out the rh and rc jumper wire. Thank you!
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2023.05.30 20:11 Dogwood_Eng Wiring Guru help and experience needed. Standalone wiring a Ruckus engine.
Been doing some reading on here and want to say thanks for all the info you've compiled. I have a bit of a project I am working through and was hoping someone with more Ruckus experience might be able to shed some light for me.
I am attempting to run a 2003 Ruckus engine with minimal wiring in a swap application. It will all be fitted to a 2000 Honda Elite frame. I'm no stranger to engine swaps or scooters (mostly honda 2 strokes) but have never modified a ruckus with it's "complicated electronics". Judging by the Throttle Position Sensor, ECT sensor and ECU it probably has real ignition timing strategy unlike most fixed scooter CDI's
I have listed some things below that I think need sorted to get it running without a ECU. If you see any problems feel free to let me know.
Fuel system: Traditional carb with manual choke and gravity feed fuel system. I have a few Polini CP and Mikuni carbs I could jet properly, and the Elite chassis it's all going in has a gravity feed fuel system in place already.
Ignition system: Something like the Rolling Wrench EVI "standalone" ignition system. This seems to need +/- 12v, kill switch signal and connection to the service connector (RPM) to make it work. That said it is made to work in conjunction with a stock ECU, what that stock ECU would still be controlling I don't know. Fuel pump and possibly the charging/starting system
https://www.rollingwrenchdenver.com/collections/honda-ruckus-nps50-ignition-system/products/honda-ruckus-plug-play-performance-cdi-coil-combo Charging System: This is the one I am stuck on the most. Looking at the stock wiring diagram all of the AlternatoStarter leads go back to the ECU. It looks like the ruckus uses this as the starter as well as the alternator. Converting to a more normal scooter stator and using the kick start may be the move here.
If you read this far, thank you. Cheers.
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2023.05.30 20:10 Own_Potato Cadillac 4.9 engine maintenance recommendations.
I have a 1994 DeVille with the 4.9 and it seems to idle slightly weird and it usually takes about 2 cranks to start. Its got 89k on it and has new oil, new oil filter, and air filter but that's about it. The performance on it is fine. I'm pretty sure everything in that engine is original except for the belt and power steering area. The previous owner also only ran mid grade instead of premium in it so that might have cuased some issues. Do u guys recommend I do anything to prolong it's life because other then a bit of a weird idle it runs great. I think it just might need new spark plugs but if u guys could recommend anything that be great.
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2023.05.30 20:05 thecorrptedone HELP! Honda GCV160 wont stay running
So this all started at the beginning of spring when i tried to start my mower for the first time and got nothing. Did a full tune up, drained all fluids, cleaned carb, new gas, new oil, new spark plug, new air filter. NOTHING! Replaced carb entirely. It starts and runs, now we are getting somewhere. Start mowing and a few minutes later it dies. More research, check gas cap for clogged vent, seems fine, gas isn’t over filled. More research, drills hole in gas cap for more venting. Same result, buy new cap, again more of the same, starts, runs for a couple minutes and dies. Please help before I go drop a grand on an Ego.
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2023.05.30 19:54 clangan524 Was going through old baseball cards and found this guy...
2023.05.30 19:53 Tossiousobviway Why are technicians treated as the scum of the Earth?
Direct question. Ive worked for several shops and dealerships and it all comes back to the technician being treated like a second class. At auto dealers, youre at fault for every "comeback" regardless if it's actually your fault or not. Changed spark plugs and now the AC conveniently doesnt work. In the truck side, youre always second to the drivers. Driver appreciation week every 6 months where they buy lunch for all the drivers but the techs can only have whats left over. Higher ups sitting in an office chair that has maybe set foot in a shop once in their life determining that since you can do a job in under book time that the book time can be cut down. I don't even understand how that decision can be made - were being paid for our knowledge to do the job under book time, that doesn't mean it should be cut.
What gives? Talking with an older guy in the shop said it used to not be this way, that mechanics were respected decently enough. Now it's like you're dirt. Literally like you are a lesser person because you're a tech. Ive been in it for 10 years and its really eroded me down. I don't enjoy what I do anymore. I mean, I do, just not as a professional. A vehicle has been to 4 other shops, no one can figure out the issue, comes to me and is figured out in an hour - no appreciation from anywhere, even a big F You because it was $100 more than they wanted.
Oh and junk pay to have $20k in tools and work in what is realistically a hazardous environment.
No wonder the industry cant find good workers.
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Tossiousobviway to
mechanics [link] [comments]