Hello, I have 74 CB360. The issue is it’ll idle fine at 1200rpm. Exhaust gas feel around even. The left cylinder has a backfire every once in awhile. In neutral the bike will rev out fine with good throttle response. However in gear it’ll rev to a little over 4K then the left cylinder will sputter than cut completely out. I pulled plugs the left has a little carbon build up. Jets are all stock sizes, Carb was recently cleaned, and it’ll start up on first kick with a little choke. -Thanks for any responses

Hi all, I'm aiming to self publish by the end of the year and I'd love to hear some reactions to my opening chapter. Thanks for your time.
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The great bull dropped a hoof in the grass, splattering mud upon its lower leg. A dark nose lowered to the ground and sniffed at the foliage, before lazily grabbing a mouthful and chewing contentedly. A second creature, its fur lighter brown, stepped beside the first, and the bull lowed a greeting to his mate. Seven feet tall at the shoulder, and weighing nearly a ton, the aurochs were the largest cattle that had ever existed.
Obscured by nearby foliage, the paw of a mammalian hunter lightly stepped in the mud. Intelligent amber eyes regarded the aurochs, joined a moment later by a second pair, the carnivore’s hunting partner. The two painted wolves walked on tall, spindly legs, absorbed auditory information through wide, spoon-shaped ears, and, most strikingly, looked as if their bodies had been splashed with a mosaic of tan, black, and white hues – the inspiration for their namesake. The wolves were smaller than the immense cattle, standing only a couple of feet tall – but they were exceptional hunters.
The second of the pair stepped forward, snapping a twig under its paw. The aurochs looked up, alert. The male shook his head, displaying his horns.
Their cover blown, the wolves burst from the undergrowth, rushing the aurochs. The cattle bellowed in surprise, and the male rose to his hind legs, bringing his front hooves crashing down. The nimble predators leapt out of harm’s way, yipping and harassing their prey.
A howl distracted the canines, and they instantly perked up. A third wolf emerged from the bushes behind the aurochs – though she was much larger, standing even taller than the cattle. The pups yipped in excitement – this was the alpha, their mother. With her joining the hunt, their prey stood no chance.
“Oi! Trentus!” A man sitting atop the bull eyed the wolves in disgust. “Your mutts are harassing my cows again! Get them under control, for once!”
The mother wolf trotted past the two aurochs, who paid her no mind, and sternly nudged her puppies away. A moment later, a young boy, no older than eleven, rushed to the scene. “Sorry!” he called. “It won’t happen again!”
The aurochs rider simply rolled his eyes and steered the cattle forward, continuing to till the field.
The boy, dressed in simple rags, his skin lying somewhere between truly dark and truly light, turned his attention to the two smaller dogs, which were sitting sheepishly in their mother’s shadow. “Fenrir! Amarok!” Trentus said sternly, and the puppies shrank at the reprimand. “You know you’re not supposed to chase the aurochs!” Trentus managed to keep his stern façade for a few more seconds before he dropped to his knees and widened his arms. “All right, that’s enough. You’re still good dogs!”
The two animals merrily bounded into him, knocking the laughing boy over. As Trentus attempted to push the puppies off, their gargantuan mother tenderly lowered her head and sniffed the much smaller human. Trentus fearlessly lifted his arms and rubbed the canine’s ears. “Yes, Lupa, you were a good girl. Thanks for keeping them out of trouble.”
Seemingly satisfied, Lupa lifted her head and walked away from the smaller three, across the lush green fields of Kalosi. Modest wooden houses and barns in the center of the settlement were surrounded on all sides by fields of tropical crops, ranging from sugarcane and pineapple to muddy ponds of taro. Encompassing the entire community was thick jungle, unbroken save for a small dirt road, used for bringing goods in and out.
Mirovia was oft regarded as a vast, wild, and exotic expanse, with any civilized settlements being few and far between. All but the largest cities ran the risk of being swallowed by nature. Even by these standards, Kalosi was small and isolated. A particularly tiny town, in the middle of what most scholars referred to as ‘nowhere,’ it was born due to its proximity to a fresh spring that created ideal conditions for growing certain crops. Outsiders often found the thought of living in such an isolated region stifling, but most of Kalosi’s residents enjoyed a peaceful existence alongside nature.
Trentus ran across the fields, the dogs Amarok and Fenrir on his heels. Older residents walked around him: gathering crops, hauling cargo on domesticated aurochs, or scattering food to the colorful microraptors that ran beneath their feet. Larger, adult painted wolves strolled along the jungle’s edge, following the commands of men and women armed with crossbows: security, to ensure that roving predators thought twice before paying a visit.
“Trentus!” a stern voice rang out. Now it was the boy’s turn to sheepishly shrink. He meandered towards a small pond, where farmers were pulling taro plants from the knee-deep water. One of these was a middle-aged woman, similar features belying relation to Trentus. Lupa the great wolf lay in a sunny patch of grass beside the pond.
“Yes, mom?” Trentus asked.
The woman placed her hands on her hips. “What are you doing, running around already? Don’t you have work to do?”
“I already completed my section of the harvest!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes! Five baskets’ full! I worked very hard.” Trentus pouted at her skepticism.
Anai’s frown turned to a smile, and she relaxed. “Okay, I’m sorry for pestering you. You’re a very good worker, you know that?”
“So I can go play?” he asked impatiently, gesturing at his dogs.
“Yes,” said Anai with a grin. “And how are the pups behaving today?”
“Not very well,” Trentus admitted. “They were bothering the aurochs again. Lupa had to step in.” The larger wolf raised her head lazily at the mention of her name.
Anai chuckled. “Don’t worry about that. Lupa’s the best painted wolf I’ve ever seen. She’ll straighten those two pups out, and they’ll turn into very responsible adults.” She wiped her hands dry on her shirt, stepped out of the pond, and ruffled her son’s hair. “Kind of like someone else I know, eh?” Trentus grumbled as he unsuccessfully tried to dodge her touch, and the woman then gave Lupa a friendly scratch behind the ears, who thumped her tail in appreciation. “While learning proper training for your dogs is important, Trentus, much more important to me is that you continue to grow your bond with them. Remember to always be kind to animals, and they’ll repay you in loyalty and kindness themselves. That’s how people became friends with these wolves, after all: we feed and take care of them, and in return they’re our companions, and help protect the village.”
Trentus smirked and crossed his arms. “I know this, mom. And I’m already great friends with Fenrir and Amarok. Just you wait – once they’re grown and large enough to ride, I’m going to join the beast hunts to fight off monsters and protect the town!”
Anai bit her lip and looked down at this. “What’s wrong?” Trentus pushed. “Look, I know you don’t like the beast hunts, but they’re for a good reason!”
“You know how I feel about the culls,” she said quietly. “And you know I don’t agree with them.”
“But if they’re helping–”
“The culls don’t target individual creatures that have attacked villages. They target entire species of animal, including creatures that have never harassed a person before. Hunters break into dens, attack babies, and use this as an excuse to kill the mother when she tries to protect her children. The entire practice is barbaric. Which side do you think are the real monsters in this scenario, Trentus?”
Trentus had raised his hands placatively, trying to stop his mother from falling into a rant. “Okay, okay, I get it. I won’t talk about it anymore.”
Anai sighed. “Just promise me you’ll keep in mind, Trentus, that people used to see our painted wolves as bloodthirsty beasts before we learned we could tame them. Beast hunts in the past would target and kill all the wolves they could find – including the puppies.”
Trentus stared at his two companions. “Seriously?”
“Yes. I think a lot of animals are deeper and more intelligent than people believe – what we call monsters may have, well, a soul.” Anai locked eyes with her son. “But don’t be mistaken, Trentus. Animals may not be evil, but they can be very, very dangerous. Any beast you find in the wild is not automatically going to be your friend – it may take time and lots of work to gain a beast’s loyalty, if it can be gained at all.” She sighed. “So yes, the danger is very real. I just think there are ways of handling it besides violence.”
Anai shook her head and smiled at her son. “Sorry if I got too serious there. Are you going to spend the rest of your day playing with your dogs?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Great. Have fun!” Trentus began to scamper off, when she called him back. “Wait, Trentus! I made you a pack!” She pointed to a small hide pouch in the grass, tied to a belt. “There are snacks inside, and veris leaves in case you get a scrape.”
“Thanks, mom!” Trentus tied the pack around his waist and took off running, Fenrir and Amarok bounding after him.
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The sun sunk behind emerald hills, casting long shadows on the town of Kalosi and bathing its fields in brilliant orange light.
Atop a watchtower on the settlement’s edge, a sentry placed an oliphant horn to their lips and let out a long, low blow. Any farmers still out in the fields looked up at this, some sighing in relief. Trentus, sitting on a log near the forest’s edge as he sketched one of the town’s domestic microraptors, sighed instead in disappointment. His model, a colorful bird-like creature pecking the ground, squawked in surprise.
The sun was falling, and soon it would be too dark to continue their work. Furthermore, the jungle’s carnivores became active at night, and no one wanted to contend with them. On the city’s perimeter, the guards chatted and laughed as they headed towards the town, their great painted wolves trotting behind them.
“Trentus! Time to come inside!” The boy’s mother waved from across the field.
“Okay! I’m coming!” Trentus closed his sketchbook, and his four-winged model skittered for the nearest tree, scaling the bark to roost for the night. Trentus called for his two wolves, who were lounging nearby, and they ran for the houses on the other side of the fields. Ensuring he was coming, Anai turned back to the buildings with a smile.
Halfway to the houses, Trentus froze. “Ah! My pouch!” He looked back and saw the bag leaning against the log he had been using. He sprinted back to retrieve it, the confused dogs in tow.
Trentus reached the jungle’s edge and secured the bag around his waist. Before he could do anything more, however, the sound of growling entered his ears. Trentus stared at Fenrir and Amarok in surprise, who were snarling at the darkness of the trees, their hackles raised to full height.
Trentus peered into the forest, whose thick canopy blocked nearly all of dusk’s dim light. Trentus shivered, feeling as if ice water were trickling down his spine.
Trentus tried to control his breathing. Ever so slowly, he took one step back. Then two. His eyes never left the void of shadow that the wolves were focused on.
One of the guards, halfway to the village, glanced back and noticed the boy. “Hey, you! Kid! We’re heading in for the night, c’mon!”
Trentus flinched at the call, but didn’t dare to tear his eyes from the undergrowth. He took another step backwards.
The guard groaned and turned to her companions. “I’ve got this. You go on.” She started jogging towards Trentus.
The boy’s eyes widened as he saw the jungle shadows shift. His breaths grew quick and panicky. “Amarok,” he squeaked. “Fenrir. Come here.”
“Kid! What are you doing?” The guard’s cry was still distant, though growing closer.
The shadows exploded from the foliage, a dark mass filling Trentus’ vision. He reactively collapsed, which inadvertently saved him as the entity sailed overhead. Fenrir and Amarok snarled and leapt onto the mass, latching onto its side and biting down. The beast unleashed a deep, mammalian yowl.
“Moorbeast!” The guard screamed.
Trentus’ mind raced. The moorbeast cat. He had heard of these. Even glimpsed one, when he was eight. One had wandered uncomfortably close to the village when farmers were still in the fields. He had heard a commotion, and looked up in time to see the guards chase a giant black cat into the trees. That event was odd, though. The cats were usually nocturnal. They preferred to hunt at night.
Or at dusk.
Trentus stared in horror as the great black beast leapt up and down, trying to shake the young wolves off. The creature was enormous, standing nearly ten feet tall at the shoulder. Its visage was lynx-like, with pointed ears, a short tail, and jet-black spots that could be made out even against its dark pelt. Far more muscular than a standard lynx, however, the beast was squatter and incredibly bulky, with hardly any neck and a muscular hunch atop its shoulders. Trentus heard shouting, and saw the contingent of guards and full-grown wolves charging in their direction.
The moorbeast managed to reach far enough behind itself to grab Amarok in its jaws, and flung the small dog to the ground. Trentus gasped in terror. Amarok whimpered and unsuccessfully tried to stand, as the great beast advanced upon him.
An adult wolf bolted across the field, charging past the others, and rammed into the cat. The moorbeast was thrown off course, the impact also jarring off Fenrir, who ran to his brother’s side. Lupa positioned herself between the cat and her puppies, staring down her foe. The moorbeast hissed. The full-grown wolf was just as long as the cat, but shorter and nowhere near as bulky. The dogs were built for agility, while the moorbeast was built for taking down large prey. Trentus knew a one-on-one fight wasn’t ideal, but reinforcements were coming.
The cat snarled again, and charged Lupa. She conceded, latching her jaws around the moorbeast’s neck as the larger beast fought to throw her to the ground. Trentus realized he was far too close to the battle and hastily scrambled backwards, towards the treeline. He struggled to rise but stumbled as his foot became tangled in vines. He frantically fought to free himself.
The moorbeast was still attempting to wrap its jaws around Lupa’s neck when an arrow hit its shoulder. The creature yowled, ripped away from the wolf, and turned to the town. The guards were now close enough to start firing, their wolves mere seconds away.
Trentus managed to wrench his foot free, and stumbled to his feet.
Several more dogs arrived, snapping and snarling at the cat. Sensing it was outnumbered, the animal hissed and stepped backwards. As more arrows sailed overhead, it turned back to the forest, locking eyes with the only thing standing between it and shelter.
“Run!” Trentus heard the guard scream. He did.
The moorbeast charged after him, and both were swallowed by the foliage.
Calls of screaming guards and barking dogs were drowned out in Trentus’ ears, replaced only by the sound of the great beast crashing through greenery behind him. Trentus panted in terror as he ducked beneath gnarled roots and weaved between draping vines. His small size was the only thing saving him from certain death, as the feline had to pause for precious seconds to tear through each obstacle.
Near blinded by fear and the fading light, Trentus couldn’t see the plant-covered cliff edge until the ground vanished beneath him, and he was tumbling down a slope. The moorbeast leapt after him and found itself freefalling as well. Trentus landed in a patch of brambles, leaves and stems scratching at his face. He heard a thud as the cat landed in the mud a few feet away. As it slowly clambered to its feet, the boy quickly pushed further into the bushes, hitting the cliff wall. He located a small enclave in the rock face, and squeezed as deeply into it as he could. Breathlessly, Trentus watched the great beast rise to its full height. Its movements were slow, as if the fall had harmed it. The arrow still sprouted from its right shoulder.
As his eyes adjusted to the dark space, Trentus saw that the cliff face surrounded them on all sides, and he realized he had fallen into a pit, one over thirty feet deep. Small streams of water trickled into the hole, leaving the floor damp and muddy before continuing deeper into the earth through a small crack in the wall. Excellent – now even if he wasn’t killed by the cat, he’d have to scale a thirty-foot slope.
He focused back on the moorbeast. Its breathing was laborious, its head hung low. The animal seemed to be in pain. As he watched it, the cat suddenly turned to face Trentus. He stifled a gasp.
The animal limped to the brambles and sniffed the plants that had broken Trentus’ fall. It followed the scent to the enclave. Trentus pushed as far back into it as he could, closing his eyes out of fear. When he opened them again, the moorbeast was staring directly at him.
Trentus gasped, and the cat stuck a paw into the enclave, trying to reach him. “No! Get back!” Trentus kicked at the paw, and the moorbeast retracted it, before trying to squeeze its head into the hole, as if it thought its bulk would fit. “I said go!” Trentus planted a kick directly on its face, and the cat pulled back with a grumble. Trentus watched as the animal walked through the brambles again, paced a couple of times around the pit’s walls, and paused to lap at the stream running through the center. After this, the animal headed back to Trentus’ enclave, and peered in once more.
“I – said – go!” Trentus screamed, and delivered another kick to the peering face. The cat gave another unhappy yowl, and limped to the far side of the pit. Trentus watched as it regarded the cliff face, before it crouched and leapt. The beast scrambled at the wall, but its strength seemed to give out, and it fell back to the ground, mud and dirt cascading over it. The cat shook the dirt off and leapt again, scrambling for purchase, but again collapsed, landing on its side. Trentus watched as dark mass’s side rose and fell with its breath. It was another full minute before the cat moved further. It painfully rose to its feet, looking ever weaker, and once more plodded to the stream. It lapped at the water, took one last glance towards Trentus, and flopped onto its side.
Trentus leaned against the stone. He couldn’t go out there, not with that monster, and even if he could, how would he escape? The walls were steep, slick, and didn’t look to have any good handholds. He absentmindedly wondered if this was once dug as a hunting pit, but then abandoned or forgotten.
Exhausted both mentally and physically, Trentus closed his eyes and felt sleep quickly overtake him.

We all know about the rules in Scavengers Guide to Droids for Droids as Equipment. These introduce rules for Droids that are not full NPC character, instead they can do a few things if their owners spend swift actions.
Most of us have heard about Droidified Equipment from Scum and Villainy as well. Turning a piece of regular equipment eg. a Jet Pack into a Droid.
Now we just go full circle, design a custom droid that looks like a piece of equipment, a Jet Pack in this case.
What we want is a small 5th-Degree Droid with the Cargo Hauler talent and as high STR as possible. So, STR 17 costs 13 Points to buy, leaving you 2 points to spend on other stats.
STR 17 +4(5th-Degree) -2(Small size) +1(4th level) = 20
Light Load: 10² ×0.75= 75kg
Cargo Hauler double carrying capacity to 150kg.
Now we we upgrade the Droid with a Exclusive Flying Locomotion System. This costs 3,240 credits. A bargain.
Now turn the Droid into equipment via the rules in SGtD as mentioned above. Strap the Droid to your back and have it fly you around all day!

Interestingly, the Bible clearly says God’s New Earth (Jerusalem) will be ruled by children. Greta Thunberg represents this new generation, striving to promote and sustain life on our planet. Here, I share my notes on her most recent (February 2023) work The Climate Book, with the hope in my heart that her voice will be carried far. *[My own Christian perspective is weaved into her scientific outlook.]
To begin, Carbon Dioxide (C02) is a basic building block of life, some of which has been stored underground from plants from long ago. Over 2 million years ago, too much C02 caused a mass extinction. Afterwards, trees were virtually gone. It took millions of years for Earth's biosphere and life to recover.
People have been farming for over 10,000 years, depleting the nutrients of the land. Between 1945 and 2000, the number of people tripled. Since the 1990s, we have dumped more climate changing toxins into our environment than throughout all of human history. We consume more, due to this “great acceleration.” In the 20th century, people accelerated their use of fossils fuels.
The science is solid. The great acceleration occurred with the industrial revolution. We have filled our oceans with plastics, and are destabilizing our own ecosystem. This is like sawing off the branch we are sitting on!
Nature cycles carbon, but global warming can be exacerbated by the release of carbon from the soil due to warming. We have knocked the natural balance off, due to our use of stored fuels and our own carbon emissions. Since the industrial revolution, our economy is reliant upon fossil fuels and non-sustainable practices.
We must rebalance our planet by controlling our own behaviors and emissions. If we continue with current practices, we will warm our planet by 4 degrees by the end of this century.
What will this be like? Extreme heat waves will occur yearly, along with drought and famine. Sea ice will disappear, revealing more of the ocean.
Climate change directly causes the death of coral reefs, and if they collapse they will also take with them millions of ocean species. We may be causing the 6th extinction. Coral reefs become bleached due to warmer waters as their colorful algae is expelled, threatening over 30% of ocean species. Right now, three billion people rely upon our oceans for food. We need to farm our oceans sustainably (such as for seaweed). Fishermen are currently exploiting 90% of available fisheries. One billion people depend on fish for omega-3 fatty acids and more.
Why don’t more people care? Many do not perceive a threat because it is slow and complicated. We have exploited and distanced ourselves from Nature. Even our religions have promoted the false notion that this world is to be devalued, and we are separated from our Creator. Many feel a void, with no God within. Many try to fill this emptiness with ceaseless products. Our entire worldview and our daily habits must change.
Today 20% of California’s power use goes toward providing water. We can take better measures, like drawing from ocean water.
Factory and human waste is polluting our waters. Riots have broken out, such as in India, over access to water. Who is taking this seriously? The public? The government? It seems almost no one.
Our government could pass new laws, but they do not. People are also self-interested, and rarely act for the social good if it takes from them in any way. This age is characterized by selfishness and greed, as even the Bible warns in Revelation. Tragically and shockingly, the fossil fuel industry is receiving 11 million in subsidies each minute.
The Industrial revolution, rise of science and decrease in religious morality have all compelled these trends forward. We need a new ethic prioritizing life. Religious leaders must support life, not the Death Culture which exalts the self (no matter the consequences).
We are literally obsessed with culture wars that distract us from our common interests in protecting our planet and making future generations possible.
What stands in the way of a sustainable future for human life? Should consumers even have a choice to purchase destructive products, like plastic containers for single-uses? Should meat even be available? If we really took this seriously, what measures would we take, and what laws would our government pass?
One problem is how some lives are valued more than others, and a select few are exploiting and making life impossible for many. Those in power do not tend to question their privilege!
GLORIFICATION OF THE SELF We have convinced ourselves that we deserve our carbon-rich lifestyles. If we remain hedonistic and not prudent, the poorest and most vulnerable to climate change will suffer the most.
And, Christ will judge us based on how the least among us is treated. Do we contemplate this with each plastic bottle we toss out, or plane trip we take? Isn’t living sustainably Christian behavior, reflecting the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and our living God?
Our future grandchildren will pay and suffer for our convenience now. But, we glorify the self. We glorify the pleasure of the individual and freedom to drive our species over a cliff. Many arguments from the ‘other side’ boil down to a call for the freedom to die.
CORRUPT LEADERSHIP Our leaders are taking us over a cliff. George W. Bush pulled out of the Kyoto protocol, given it was not ratified prior to his taking power. He chose to serve corporate interests (even over human life). Bush declared that the American way of life is not negotiable (1992). Since he spoke these words over 30 years ago, our emissions have increased by 60%, creating an existential crisis.
Given such attitudes and priorities, we have a limited carbon budget to spend in the next few years if we wish to avoid the most dire consequences of global warming. We need to raise the cost of carbon, forcing consumers to pay more for products that are heavy in carbon pollution. We also need to change our diets. We must get our priorities straight.
In 2009, corrupt lobbying destroyed an act that would have helped. But the fossil fuel industry, driven by greed, spends billions on disinformation and distraction. They poison public debate with dirty money. Leaders set non-binding targets, then fail to reach the goals. Their true priorities are economic growth and profit. It seems to the public that actions are being taken, but they are not taking serious measures at all.
The richest ten percent contribute 50% of our total C02 emissions. We need to restructure our economy to be sustainable. The idea of infinite growth is not possible on our finite planet.
We are all in the same crisis, but not the same boat. The only hope is in speaking truth to power and adjusting our behaviors accordingly.
CURRENT SITUATION There is about 1 carbon molecule for every 2,000 other molecules in our atmosphere, so carbon is difficult to locate for removal. To stop putting carbon into our air is much cheaper and better than paying for carbon removal later, which would cost trillions upon trillions. Why should we allow companies to continue business as usual, passing cost and problems to future generations?
Climate change is responsible for over 2 trillion in economic costs. Economic damage from climate change will cost over 3x the amount the pandemic cost. For example, insurance rates will rise and the real estate market will suffer due to not being able to sell in coastal and impacted areas.
Worldwide, waste is increasing at an alarming rate and 20% of methane emissions are due to our waste. We need to engage in more intelligent practices. For example, we can compost (which reduces waste in landfills that leads to methane emissions). Composting will also nourish our gardens.
Methane removal, through oxidation, is needed. Half of our methane is produced from human behaviors like cattle agriculture.
C02 is forever, while methane is temporary. Methane is 20-30x more potent in warming our atmosphere than C02, but it dissipates over 40 years while C02 will remain thousands upon thousands of years. C02 is also cumulative.
Given this, we must stop our emissions of greenhouse gases immediately. If we reach zero emissions, it will drastically reduce global warming. Carbon dioxide is at its highest in 2 billion years, due to our behaviors. We are experimenting with our own lives and planet!
Toxins accumulate in sea creatures, damaging the whole ecosystem. C02 enters the blood of fish, affecting acidification. Acidity has already risen 30%, producing hazards for marine life, like for coral reefs and in decreasing calcification in the shells of sea life. Shopping bags can strangle sea animals and their stomachs are found full of microplastics.
The Amazon forest works as a giant air conditioner, cooling our planet. It absorbs C02. But temperatures in the Amazon are increasing and it is getting more dry due to the expansion of farming and deforestation.
Aerosols like smoke and other tiny particles in our air affect our global temperature. Some cool our atmosphere by reflecting the sun, even dropping temperatures by 0.5 percent. Without aerosols, our atmosphere would be hotter. But air pollution is also hazardous, coming from our cars and factories, for example.
Clouds reflect sunlight back into space, but can also insulate heat like a blanket. Reduced clouds over our oceans force the ocean to absorb the sunlight, thus contributing to global warming.
Melting ice caps no longer reflect the sun, leading even to more warming. Our glaciers are melting. The Himalayas provide drinking water to billions, yet will melt by 1/3. We have enough ice to raise our ocean levels the equivalent of a 20 story building. We have already lost the equivalent of Mt. Everest in ice sheets. This melting will lead to coastal devastation for those living near our oceans. Our oceans will rise by a meter by 2100.
Oceans absorb about 90% of the excess heat produced by global warming. While oceans absorb about ¼ of C02, warming produces less absorption. We must enhance our oceans ability to absorb C02. Even a 1.5 degree increase in temperature is a great risk to our future survival. Our weather has extremes, like the freezing waters and the heatwave that killed many in 2021.
Human made climate change has devastating consequences. For example, Hurricane Harvey cost billions and the severity was 15% greater due to human made climate change. Sadly, 20 million people were displaced by flooding in 2020.
Distressingly, we have all witnessed that even minor disruptions in our supply chain are devastating. Thus, climate change must be averted at all costs.
Our temperature has already warmed by 1%, which all reputable science agrees upon. This is already causing damage right now. Heat waves and air pollution lead to heart related and respiratory deaths, not just heat strokes. Millions die per year due to air pollution. The warming climate also triggers diseases like Maleria and will kill millions. These diseases are being seen in areas not seen before.
The increase of C02 in our atmosphere is even making our crops less nutritious. Specifically, soils lack zinc and protein. Zinc deficiency then leads to a reduced immune system. Millions more will have an iron and folate deficiency due to current C02 levels. Iron deficiency leads to premature births.
GOING FORWARD So then, what is our best path forward for survival? We have to stick to a carbon budget per year to reach our goal of only increasing the temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius. The carbon budget, to stay within the agreements of the Paris accord, will be used up in a few years. But noone seems to be sounding any alarms. Is this because our media is controlled by the elite?
Politicians still respond to mammon ($) with no concern, really, for life. Congressman Manchin singlehandedly rewrote climate legislation in 2021, even with all aware that he has millions invested in fossil fuels, like the influential Koch brothers.
Exxon Mobil has been well aware of the consequences of their actions for decades, yet put forth false discussions into the public sphere. They purposefully stalled for time, which we do not have.
The King of Saudi Arabia has unbelievable wealth and power, but when we move to solar and wind energy power will not be so concentrated. This may lead to a more hopeful and democratic future that serves the actual interests of the people. We need to turn to our Sun. We need to now rely upon energy from heaven, not from hell. It is not that we do not have the money to change. It is that those benefiting from our current Death Economy do not have the will to change.
Many will promote carbon capture technologies, but the reality is hidden. There are only about 20 carbon capture facilities operating right now, some shown to produce more carbon than they capture. We can use fossil fuels only until around 2050, unless technology like carbon capture is seriously invested in (and not just used as a talking point). Many CEOs deflect attention from change right now, promising (like snake oil salesmen) to develop sustainable technology in the future. (Interestingly, blue hydrogen can be made from carbon capture.)
Solving our crisis calls for us putting less demand upon our energy system, such as in consuming less. We need to return to more of a natural, Earth based way of life. Do we all really need to extend our days, with artificial light, past the natural hours of sunlight? Must we eat meat? Wherever there is a roof, there is a potential for a solar panel. Wind parks can also be built in offshore locations, where they are less disruptive.
Green hydrogen is a fuel that leaves only water behind and is usually produced by methane. But it costs more to produce than it makes. Thus, green hydrogen requires an abundance of cheap energy.
Hydropower facilities use water flow to produce energy, while nuclear power splits elements for energy, and produces around 10% of the world’s energy. But, a nuclear power factory that just opened in 2022 took 16 years to open. And, nuclear power can have disastrous consequences and can be the target of terrorism.
Biomass energy creates energy by burning wood or other biological matter. But, it can take hundreds of years for forests to regrow. Thus, we need to slow down this process and aim to stop burning things on Earth for energy.
Geothermal heat takes energy from the Earth's heat, producing around 17% of greenhouse gases. But it is limited in that there are limited planetary hot spots. In air capture measures, carbon is pumped underground, like in BECS. BECS pumps carbon underground and provides electricity from the burning of plant matter, which is cost effective compared to other measures. Enhanced weathering is also a promising technique, such as exposing crushed rocks and minerals to the carbon in the air to facilitate natural processes.
Finally, some promote geoengineering, which is the manipulation of our atmosphere, such as reducing the warming effects of our sun. Some support spraying sun-blocking aerosols or coating ice to protect it. This is actually risky to our ecosystems. Solar engineering is too dangerous, given once the process is started it must continue indefinitely (and political regimes can change). If suddenly stopped, warming will occur to an even greater degree than if no measures were ever taken.
REAL SOLUTIONS Elites consume and produce more than most. Our problems are that of inequality as much as pollution. If the top 10% (financially) only produced the carbon footprint of the bottom 90% of global emitters, 1/3 of carbon would be reduced. Thus, carbon budgets will affect the filthy rich the most. The most wealthy are contributing a shockingly disproportionate amount of pollution. The average person produces 6.5 tons of emissions per year, with the wealthy producing 75 tons.
Rich countries know they are liable for their pollution. They, of course, do not want to focus discussions on responsibility. The global economy could shrink by 18% due to the climate crisis.
We need to reduce emissions, restoring soils and forests. We need to protect our soil from tilling, pesticides and depleted nutrients. We have found that enriching soil with nitrogen has polluted our water. We need new practices. How can we sustainably grow food? How can we facilitate new ideas?
PLANT-BASED DIET We know that as affluence increases, so does meat consumption. But more efficient use of water and land, such as in transitioning to plant-based diets and farms, is our only viable path forward. This would support health of our land, souls and bodies!
Plant-based foods have the lowest impact, while meats can impact our environment over 20x more. Every 50 calories that go into meat (feed) produces 1 calorie as human food. 4x the size of Brazil in land is used for grazing cattle, the greatest use of land (even above forests). And, 20% of gas emissions are due to how we use land, mainly for agriculture. Our current food production also causes 30% of greenhouse gases. We need to shift to a plant-based diet. We can feed our communities using 76% less land. One burger, which gives 10 grams of protein, uses resources like land and water that would provide many more nutritious calories if the same land was instead devoted to vegetable and fruit gardens.
Turning away from meat would not only help us feed more people, it would also help reduce diseases in our bodies and help reduce carbon pollution. Specifically, 350 million tons per year in emissions would be reduced if we shunned meat. Becoming vegetarian is the single most impactful action you can take to help.
We are eating more calories, when we need to consume less. Specifically, we need to reduce pork and beef calories by 80% in wealthy countries. Currently, 1/3 of all food produced is not consumed. We must make smarter use of our land and reduce our food consumption and waste. Humans have directly reduced biodiversity in shaping the land for our purposes, such as in agricultural practices. We farm around 30% of land now. It would take far less land to farm if we stopped using land for food for cows and other “products” for the meat industry.
Given all of this, how can it be that $500 billion in government subsidies go into agriculture that is not sustainable? We need a political and spiritual revolution. We need significant behavioral and technological changes immediately. For example, if we lowered the speed limit, we would save over 5 tons of carbon emissions annually (just in Germany). We also need cities that are efficiently constructed, and need to reduce unnecessary travel. We can use online meetings rather than physically traveling to meetings.
We can also encourage college students to prepare solutions for our problems, instead of preparing for the job market! This kind of free thought would be supported by a Universal Basic Income.
Even in 2021, 95% of transport relies upon oil (including cars, planes and ships). We need to curb the sale of SUVs, which produce great emissions. Why are they so popular? We need to encourage lighter vehicles, banning SUV advertising. We need to wake up!
Renewable energy is now the cheapest form of energy. Renewable energy makes more sense, yet those who have vested interests in fossil fuels do not want change and actively work against change. Still today, 1.446 billion vehicles run on petrol. EVs are a good step, but we really need electric public transit.
We need to outlaw all petrol engine vehicles starting 2025, and more. By 2035, there will be 2 billion private vehicles. We need free public transportation, like trains, trams, busses and ferries.
We also really need to buy less. We can reuse and repair our items and vehicles, rather than buying new things. Americans spend $5,400 per year on impulse purchases, and studies show that more ‘stuff’ does not equate with greater levels of happiness. We can share and borrow items, as a true community. This is also Christian behavior.
We can wear second-hand clothing. The clothing industry fills landfills! Electric bikes are also good alternatives to our current ways. We can buy only energy efficient appliances and can avoid over packaged foods, meat and dairy.
We need to transform our food system and plant green gardens everywhere possible. We need home garden and trees and biodiversity in cemeteries, parks and public areas as well as home backyards.
Biodiversity protects us by removing C02 from the air and purifying our waters. It helps mitigate disease and even protects our health. We need to support biodiverse land because it absorbs more C02. This is a real action we can take.
We also need to let forests grow and stop cutting young trees for wood. Before the Industrial revolution, people burned mostly wood for energy. Industrialization did relieve the deforestation occurring at the beginning of the 19th century by turning to fossil fuel energy instead of wood burning. After the development of coal burning machines, pollution killed more people than we realize. We do have to stop burning fossil fuel.
Today the ability of a forest to store carbon depends on many factors. First, we need to replace trees at the rate carbon would have been captured if wood was not harvested. If a tree is not cut, how much carbon would it capture over its lifetime?
We need to reduce wood harvesting. Specifically, we can harvest from constructed tree farms, but also allow other trees to grow old, to support biodiversity. We need no till farming, a plant based diet, biodiverse forests and more. We need drastic carbon emission cuts now.
We have already reduced the populations of birds, reptiles and insects by 2/3 since the 1970s. Sadly, 60% of all songbirds have disappeared in the last decades.
We are killing our ecosystem. Pollinators (like bees) are dying, thus leading to our deaths due to not being able to eat vegetables (which increases heart disease due to poor diet and high meat consumption).
But, are people even able to respond to new information? Are we able to act on new data? We will see.
Buying less means we do not have to earn as much. Our world will be better and we will feel better. We need to take the status away from consuming products. There are websites devoted to revealing the true carbon footprint of popular products, like: www.ethicalconsumer.com
Profits motivate corporations to distract the public from the truth. We are not told how unhealthy certain common things are, even in the long term. It is not in their interest (they mistakenly think) to be honest and change to a more sustainable economy. Of course, God sees all.
Politicians are short sighted and are not addressing the crisis at all. We need “honesty, integrity and courage” (Greta Thunberg). But, many are still driven by mammon (money) to the point of our death. Many politicians are corrupt, with our blood on their hands. They have the blood of all future children who will never breathe in God's air of life, given lobbying, on their hands. How is lobbying legal? Our government does not work for the people, but for power and mammon. The rich are served and our Death Culture continues, while we continue to consume dead flesh.
Our politicians must lead us in a new direction, no matter if it is aligned with popular public opinion. Politicians need to communicate our true situation and our media needs to direct us to a more healthy future.
“The time for little steps in the right direction is over. We are in a crisis” – Greta.
Promises to become climate neutral by 2050 puts everyone back to sleep. If they really cared, drastic changes would be made right now instead of distracting our focus, according to Greta Thunberg.
“It matters what we say, but it matters even more what we do” - Greta.
We cannot act only nationally, given we are on one planet and are all affected. For example, the pandemic could not be kept to one nation. We must address our crisis as a world, not as isolated nations.
Geopolitical tensions stand in the way of true international negotiations. Nations are driven by a will to power. We need a new base ethic of valuing life and caring about each other (across nations and groups).
We need to work together to address the planetary crisis. Instead, each nation is actually preparing for conflict, based on the finances devoted to building military forces. Our money shows our true priorities.
Greta Thunberg says we need to just simply “tell it like it is.” We need to stand on our moral ground and be open to innovative ideas and solutions. She suggests many ideas for change.
First, we must start treating this climate crisis like a crisis. We must get our priorities straight. We must also admit our economic systems have failed. We need to face reality to be able to create a better world.
The best way to absorb more carbon is to leave forests alone. “A living tree must be valued more than a dead one,” explains Greta Thunberg. Scientists recommend we protect at least 30% of nature. Currently, only 3% of the Earth’s surface is unharmed.
We must spread the facts; 5.9 trillion dollars are spent annually in subsidies for fossil fuels, which is insanity. Do not fly; avoid air travel. The tourist economy is responsible for 8% of our yearly emissions. Instead of subsidies for air travel, we need to pay subsidies to encourage train travel. We can invest in wind and solar power, and scientific advances like farm-free food grown in a laboratory.
Science can shed light on how to nourish our soil and stop depleting it. Thus, we can go forward with science and morality as our guiding forces. The ‘is’ and the ‘ought’ will be complementary.
We need to educate ourselves and become climate activists. We can institute justice through protests and civil disobedience. We need to fight for democracy in non-violent ways. We need new laws to protect us.
Be disruptive. Look for common ground, using love and not hate to shed light into the darkness. Avoid culture wars that only distract us from survival with endless debates. Very simply, we must also buy less and use less. We can also stop purchasing single-use plastics, like bottles for water.
Plastics that are disposable have been available for 20 years, and thus have accumulated in our oceans. Companies that used to offer glass bottles and also clean them have now moved to disposable products and thus have passed on costs to us.
Coca-cola actively acts against legislation that would have them offer reusable bottles again, as they did before single-use plastics. Companies blame consumers for bad habits yet shoot down laws against single-use plastics. The UK is the second highest trash producer, after the US. Most plastic is counted as recycled but is not. It litters deserts and waters, affecting our climate. Transit companies disguise the true origin of waste as it is relentlessly burned in the cover of darkness.
Countries like the UK, US, Japan and Germany export waste to places like Southeast Asia, where it is often burned at night. People now suffer respiratory illness due to these common practices. Plastic produces greenhouse gases, as it is derived from oil.
And, even today, we do not have accurate data on carbon emissions. The Washington Post found that our current path to climate solutions is not even credible nor viable, given the reported numbers are so distorted. Countries report only a fraction of their true emissions, like Sweden, who reported 50 million tons of greenhouse gases when in fact they emit closer to 150 million tons per year. So, even now, only 1/3 of emissions were even included in reports in Sweden. This is seen internationally as well. We need a proper road map, based on data and our moral ground, that we actually follow!
But “Who do you vote for when the politics needed are nowhere to be found?” poignantly asks Greta Thunberg. Even in progressive countries like Sweden, only 10% of ‘recycled’ products are actually recycled. Much is burned, causing further pollution.
So, recycling is a huge greenwashed myth. Most plastic will never be recycled. It is all made so cheaply that it is made to be disposed of. So, plastic litters landfills and our waters, especially in poorer areas. Micro plastics are now everywhere, even inside us. 8 million tons per year of plastic waste is dumped into our oceans.
We can reduce packaging, to start. We need a major system change. Greenpeace is calling for a 50% reduction in plastics in coming years, given our situation.
Specifically, we already also have 40 years of carbon built up in our atmosphere and our C02 emissions are on track to rise 16% in the coming years.
We are set to increase our global temperature, yet the media is not covering this crisis. We cannot negotiate, for we value life itself while those in power prioritize profit; “They speak to flowers in the language of US dollars” says Greta Thunberg.
We need regular press briefings on our climate crisis and many discussions on how to solve our problems. For example, we can institute a #UBI as part of the transition in our economy and as jobs related to fossil fuels diminish.
Communist China is using over 70% of our carbon budget, and still will in 2030. This, while developing countries are affected the greatest by climate issues. How can developing countries move forward in a sustainable way? Capitalism also contributes to our crisis by encouraging increasing GDPs, despite the true costs to our planet. This economic system demands growth. Yet, high income nations do not need more growth. We need a new economic system based on our ecosystem. No current systems lead to life.
We need to educate ourselves. We need both individual and systemic, market change immediately. We must restructure our economy around renewable energy, less meat consumption and less SUVs, for example, to ensure our future. In fact, 80% of energy used in 2019 was still derived from fossil fuels.
Frequent flying and eating meat are some of the most destructive activities an individual can do in terms of the climate crisis. Some have made an oath to never fly and to become vegetarian, given our situation.
We need to phase out private jets, mega yachts and other egregious displays of wealth and status. We can make these displays shameful and not glorify them. We can take public transport and move away from fossil fuel based engines. For example, in Vienna, 60% of people live in community housing.
Should we shame those who live an unsustainable lifestyle? Should we offer softer signals that change is needed, like having our family over for a vegetarian dinner?
We can encourage others to live with less of an environmental impact. As one neighbor gets solar panels, so do others. We can share plant-based recipes. We can participate in social actions and protests.
Government also (on the macro level beyond the individual) needs to lead and set examples for a new way of living, following through with laws. We need to meet the basic survival needs of all humans on our planet with current resources.
The richest 20% need to reduce their consumption to 1/10th of 2015 levels, making room for others basic needs. Christ stood up for the needy and the powerless. But are we too unloving and selfish to survive as a species? What will happen to our souls, as we turn our backs to the most vulnerable?
Psychology has been used to advertise toward people’s deepest desires to inspire their purchases. Ads create (or play upon) a deep need, promising to fill the inner void. Products promise to make us feel better and to lead to our acceptance by our social groups. But, without God, people remain empty inside while landfills overflow.
For example, 73% of textiles (clothing) produced ends up in landfills. Can we start identifying with God, and not by our outer appearance and the latest fashion?
We need to phase out excess for a few, while expanding access to basic resources to all, like healthcare and housing. This is in line with instituting a Universal Basic Income (#UBI) for all, to help people of all identities survive the upcoming transitions on earth.
Our excesses are a clue into inner poverty. Many do not have solid community ties, even if they have material wealth. We are actually happier when we are connected to others, giving and sharing. Our efforts to help others and transition from our selfish society will lead to deep joy, not poverty. We will be blessed as we use our voices and hands to carry forth God’s will.
As a start, we can choose (given our morals) to buy only 3 new pieces of clothing per year, take less trips, rid ourselves of personal vehicles and eat a plant-based diet. What else can we do?
We need the Holy Spirit to guide our souls and hands as we create a new day! We can change if we hold hope, as the eloquent theologian Jurgen Moltmann has shared. We can shift from unhealthy social norms, and these healthy changes will allow all of us to thrive.
We need relationships based on love and reciprocity instead of greed and a will to power. We need less selfishness and more sacrifice for others whom we share with because we actually care. We need to restructure our world based on love, as Christ taught.
When we take action for a sustainable society, we will find new meaning in our daily actions. Our community bonds can grow stronger as we change. And, as sociologist Emile Durkheim found, strong community bonds lead to less suicides. We have the opportunity to promote life and even joy in coming together to change our world for the better!
We do not wish to conserve the world, but create a new one. We need more community control over resources and a guaranteed income for all, regardless of group affiliation. We need energy efficient public housing and to restructure the economy to a more just system. We need to align our economy with our ecosystem as well as our morality. As the brilliant Martin Buber wrote, we need to develop I-thou relationships, based on a recognition of others and not an exploitation of them. Equity and sustainably go hand in hand; there can be no sustainably without equity. Instead of asking who owns land, we need to ask who is responsible for the land. We need a politics of love.
CONCLUSIONS: CARETAKING IS A GREEN JOB! We need to transition to a care-taking society, where all are cared for and treated with love. We need to dismantle the call to endless growth and greed.
“We need to redefine hope and progress, so that these words do not translate to destruction” – Greta.
We need to prioritize people over profits. Green jobs, like caretaking, can be recognized as we turn away from jobs based on over-consumption of unneeded products. Carework is climate work! We need to not only repair our relationship with our planet, but also with each other. We can become a global family.
Solutions involve community actions in helping each other, just as Christ called for. Also, our youth must be a global force of change. We must learn from our mistakes and challenge the status quo and those with interests in the current Death Culture.
Truth, justice and morality are on the side of creating a sustainable future, explains Greta Thunberg. In our Postmodern age, where some claim all views are valid, what is Truth? Both sides of an issue are not equally valid. Survival is not a story with two sides.
We need to end our Death Culture by following the path of love (set by Christ) and carrying out God’s will, for God is Truth. When we recognize this, we will move from the Postmodern Era to the Pre-Utopian Era, as we prepare the ground for God’s New Earth.
Takethejump.org

Hello everybody
I am a student pilot, about to do my check ride and receive my PPL, after this, I am looking for an accelerated program either in Florida or in Los Angeles. Florida because of weather and accessibility from my hometown (New Haven, Connecticut), Los Angeles because me and my wife will be moving into LA in a year and a half and it may be a good idea to start building a network there. I have been researching for a really long time and came up with bunch of options that I would like to compare publicly to learn from other opinions and experiments. please checkout the full list below came up with. The elements that led me to pick those schools are;
1-Course duration: tried to pick 4-7 Months Program2-Integrated non=interrupted Curriculum with ratings I am looking for that I cumulatively can finance (IR, CPL-SE, CPL-ME, CFI, CFII, MEI)3-Fleet size and quality4-Location (Los Angeles or anywhere in Florida)5-If they have their own maintenance or now (this is big, suffered from this a lot)6-Price7-If they are associated with meritize or not which is the best financing option for me )8-Job Placement after graduation and airline partnerships
And here are the schools I am seriously looking into:
1-ATP (duration, meritize, any location I need, all ratings I need, airline partnerships) 2-Fly Jet Access Florida (Duration, price, location, Ratings and relatively more hours included in fixed price, meritize) 3-Sunstate Aviation FL(Duration, Location, Price, Meritize) 4-Skyborne Aviation FL(Location, Airline partnerships, meritize) 5-US Aviation Academy NY(Duration, Airline partnerships, price, meritize) 6-Sling Pilot Academy CA (Duration, Location, Price, meritize, Skywest partnership)
I would appreciate any idea, and opinion, any suggestion and I would even more appreciate any experience with one of these schools I mentioned above, thanks in advance.

Since that's what the Android Association intended. Four invaders break into my house. "Commencing combat sequence." As I grab my equipment and the Omega Blaster. Blow a basketball-sized hole through the first man, he's dead on the spot. Draw my Blaster on the second man, miss him entirely because I'm busy eating two pizzas at the same time and it nails the neighbors dog. I have to resort to the afterburners of my jet engines despite them not being intended for that purpose, "It is over!" The exhaust burns two men to a crisp, the sound of their screaming and smoke set off fire alarms. Ignite my Beam Saber mounted on my wrist emitting a glowing blade superheated to over 4000*C and charge the last terrified rapscallion. He bleeds out waiting on the reinforcements to arrive since Beam Saber wounds are impossible to stitch up. Just as the Android Association intended.

I wrote some in-universe background for aircraft made after the Cascadian war that I think would fit into a potential sequel.

Magansk SK. 47

Sk. 37, developed from Sk. 27, exceeded all expectations as an air superiority fighter. Its speed and maneuverability however exerted undue stress on its airframe. After the Cascadian war, where these aircraft saw unprecedented amount of action and were repeatedly pushed to their limits, more than half of Federation’s surviving Sk. 37s didn’t pass safety inspection. This was done after one aircraft broke apart in mid-air during a routine air patrol mission. Due to rising tensions both local and international and threatening rebellion, the Federation had them reenter service anyway. In the meantime Magansk ADB were tasked with designing a successor to the Sk. 37. They started by reverse engineering a pre-calamity prototype, which they found, just as their previous designs, at an abandoned airbase in the far west.
Thanks to advanced avionics, forward swept wings and thrust vectoring, the Sk. 47 offers great maneuverability, while also carrying more weapons than its predecessor. New composite materials allow it to withstand high-G stress better and keep its weight down. Magansk was contracted by the Federation government to supply Sk. 47s as the air force’s main air superiority fighter.
Sk. 47 is based on Su-47

Henderson F/Z-14

Since the bulk of the Federation’s naval air force relied on aging F/D-14s, a replacement was necessary. Henderson Corporation was tasked with a rather tall order to produce a carrier capable, fast and highly maneuverable fighteinterceptor also usable for deep strike strategic anti-ground missions. In return they were promised an exclusive contract with the Federation air force for being the sole supplier of all new interceptor aircraft.
F/Z-14’s design features swing wings, thrust-vectoring, internal weapon bays as well as AOA delimiter. Swing wings also allow it to maintain a remarkably low velocity without stalling. While it doesn't excel in any field compared to the Federation’s other new aircraft, its universality makes up for it quite well.
The Federation however didn’t keep their promise and also contracted Icarus Armories for interceptor aircraft. For that reason Henderson Corporation made the F/Z-14 available for export. To comply with Federation laws, the export version of F/Z-14 had thrust vectoring disabled and its top speed limited by a modification of its avionics software. This software modification can however be bypassed by any semi-skilled hacker, especially since guides on how to do that are available on the internet. Rumors say the guide was leaked by Henderson executives themselves.
F/Z-14 is based on F-14Z „Stealth Cat“

Icarus Armories S-35

Seeing how a fighter jet managed to intercept cruise missiles during the operation to reclaim a stolen Dejanus-class battleship and during the attack on Prospero, the Federation unofficially contracted Icarus Armories to develop a fast interceptor aircraft designed to intercept enemy cruise missiles. Icarus Armories immediately build a new SP-34R for this purpose. Less than a month later this new prototype was shown to Federation government officials, demonstrating not only high speed, but also incredible maneuverability. Icarus was granted sufficient funding to develop this project further.
The result of this was the S-35. This fighteinterceptor retained its predecessor’s speed, maneuverability and dual rapid machine guns, but replaced its ACES system (Armored Canopy & Electronic Screen) with a standard glass canopy to reduce weight and production costs. Stronger engines allowed for heavier loadouts and internal weapon bays allow it to carry various types of missiles, including the STDM, SAA and MLAA, but also advanced PTAB and M-VLS. Railgun was also redesigned, outfitted with new capacitors which can store charge for a longer time. This allows the railgun to fire immediately after pulling the trigger. The railgun can also be dismounted and replaced with a single anti-ship missile, ideal for intercepting lone airships.
The greatest feature of the S-35 is a cordium transmitter, which when activated disrupts enemy radars. This doesn’t render the aircraft invisible to radar, but makes it impossible to accurately track its location, making it impossible to hit with both radar guided and heat seeking missiles.
PTAB – Proximity Trigger AirBurst missile. This missile knows where it is and detonates when it cannot find a path to its locked target, for example when evaded. It can lock onto a target from 8 km away and deals the same amount of damage as the SAA.
M-VLS – A vertical launch system mounted inside the s-35’s upper weapon bay launches the same type of micro-missiles as the M-SAM and BML-U, however it launches them individually. Trace amounts of Cordium in the missile’s propellant increases its heat signature and tricks missile warning systems into thinking they’re being targeted by a full size missile, forcing the pilot to evade. Thanks to this a single S-35 can disrupt the operation of an entire enemy squadron even though the missiles themselves only deal little damage.

AeroSlavia vzor 39

In AC 358 Slavian archaeologists found a preserved pre-calamity JAS-39 Gripen in a surprisingly decent condition. The government of Slavia, a central Kerneuropan country, provided funding to reverse engineer it and build new prototypes based on it. In AC 366, almost a year before Magadan Defense presented the new MG-21, AeroSlavia finished building the first prototype. This aircraft was decades ahead of its time and significantly advanced the research of electronics. It was also more expensive than any other aircraft before and after that. AeroSlavia kept on improving its design, pushing the production costs down and making it one of the most advanced aircraft in the world even more than 60 years later.
AeroSlavia sued its competitor Stalburg Lentokone Valtionyhtio for industrial espionage, because SLV’s new aircraft SV-39 was very similar to vz. 39. The court dismissed this claim, stating that all similarities exist simply because both aircraft are based on the same pre-calamity design.
Vz. 39 is based on JAS-39 Gripen

New to the jet ski world, picked up a set of 2008 yamaha vx deluxe 1100 last summer.
Had a blast with them, I tried to clean them up the first trip out and every car product I had on hand didn't seem to fix those scuffs and scratches from previous owners.
Asking for recommendations on chemicals, these are black and gray so I'm thinking black wax would be best to try once I get the out of storage.
Also will need new batteries but I assume the recommended size from anywhere will be just fine.

Like the title says, bike won't start. I've rebuilt over a dozen motors in the past, this is my first kawi. Everything had been put on right from what I can tell per the manual. Timing is correct, valves are shimmed correctly, same jets are in thr carb from when the bike was running perfect before it blew up, stock bore size, I'm getting spark, I have good compression, but the bike will not start no matter how much I kick it out how much starter fluid I spray in the intake. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Chapter 1, The debrief
The whole room is quite. The 1000 attendants all sit motionless in their chairs like statues on a pedestal. The only sounds that flows through the room is the sliding of a door on the back end of the chamber. In the doorframe is the ethereal know as: Aun’la.
Aun’la walks forward and with rhythmic steps he ascends the stairs to the lectern. He opens his PDA(personal digital assistant), he takes a breath and starts talking. The calm jet strong nature of his speech fills the room with his commanding voice, “I have gathered you all here because we have a grave problem to solve.” -He paused tapped a few buttons on his PDA and a hologram started projecting out of it- “What you see over here is a map of our whole empire, as you can see we have marked a large area called ‘the zone of silence’ because we haven’t heard from them since the origins of starside nexus. All of the planets and their inhabitants are all presumed dead. We have tasked you to go in and recover any evidence of the origins, cause or consequences of starside nexus, if and when you succeed another force under the command of Shas’o’nex will follow your tracks and assist you in reclaiming this lost territory” -The room goes quiet once again until one voice is heard from the crowd- “so what you are saying is that we need to go into the part of our empire that has died by unknown means and you expect us to survive and return with more info than when 2 whole septs couldn’t do the same job?” A fire warrior that goes by the name of Ves’ron stands upright with a concerned face. “That sounds like what the gue’la would call ‘a meat grinder with us as the cannonfodder’ says another firewarrior. -The room goes quiet again- “Well I prefer to use the term scouts. I don’t expect you to fight anything, just look around and get back. Understood?” The stark voice of Aun’la fills the room once more. “Now get moving, you have a very important scout mission ahead, the most important mission of your lives I would say!” Without any further word or protest all 1000 soldiers retreat to their dorms and sleep with a troubled mind.
Chapter 2) The mission launch
It’s the next morning and the 1000 fire caste warriors have finished of their morning training. This ‘scout mission’ will have the double effect of also being propaganda and a publicity stunt and because of that they all need to travel to the T’au’n planet, the homeplanet of the T’au empire. When they arrive in the orbit of T’au’n the air caste starts to align their ships in a good looking position. Nearly all T’au civilians are watching, in real live or on a live broadcasting system.
One of the air caste members starts to sweat and makes a little joke to lighten up the mood: “let’s hope we won’t create starside nexus 2.0”
It only made the crushing pressure higher. (This time they were using warpskimmer engines, rather than regular warpengines.)
All of the ethereals from the council give their speech while the fleet starts to boot up their warpskimmer engines. Kor’vre, the lead pilot of this whole fleet starts to read the computer he is watching: ”booting up warp engines…. Warming up….. starting the test drive…. Defect analysis: 10%, 30%, 40% ………….. 45%, 90% and done, we are good to go” When Aun’va, the head of the ethereals wraps up his speech the countdown starts. At this very moment, Kor’vre’s voice is resounding through the whole T’au empire: “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, TAKE OFF” The next thing that the T’au empire hear is a little whirring noise and a zap, nothing more. But on the other side of this warp travel, there was nothing farther from the truth.
Chapter 3) The crash
The goal of this travel method was to quickly go from one place to another, in this case from the planet of T’au’n to the opposite side of the starside nexus point. The calculations of the earth caste were perfect, there was not a single flaw in their tech or math, what they didn’t account for was the unstable force of magic they were dealing with, starside nexus.
Instead of appearing on the other side of starside nexus the fleet appeared in the middle of an asteroid ring, destroying a huge part of it immediately. The other parts started sending out distress signals, while being torn or smashed to pieces. Kor’vre started screaming into the microphone: “MAYDAY,MAYDAY, The warp jump DID NOT happen according to plan we have teleported right into an asteroid ring, MAYDAY, MAYDAY!” And; “SOS, if anybody can hear us, Xeno, human or other species, we are in GRAVE DANGER, please help us!” But there was no response, the comms stayed silent while the alarms were getting louder and louder. The next moment Fio’la stormed into the command center saying: “Kor, Kor, you have got to look at what I found.” “Our coordinates don’t match up with any place we have ever explored, we are in completely unknown terrain!” At that very moment an asteroid hit one of the front engines of the last ship of this destroyed fleet, wrecking any hope of returning. “WE HAVE GOT TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY LANDING ON THE NEAREST PLANET” Screams Kor’vre like his life depended on it, because it did.
While the space ship was rapidly crashing into this planet it suddenly passed through the atmosphere, making the crashing space ship a ball of melting metal plummeting down into the planet. With one big explosion the wreck hit the ground and there was no movement left on this metal graveyard. But after some time a lonely, simple firewarrior called Mal’cor woke up, with quite a strong head trauma and multiple fractures but atleast he was still alive. Mal’cor then went to look for survivors he found 6 other firewarriors, called: Ves’ron, Kor’Vesa, Da’noh, Al’un, Har’on, Shas’o’verra, a space marine commander called Uri’vre and a broken robot, called ‘project Puretide’
Chapter 4) Survival
The first few days were the worst, most warriors were to injured to search for food or shelter. Uri’vre was a space marine, hence it could get nutrition out of anything from stones to metal. This also meant that it had enhanced regeneration which helped to heal the injuries from the crash. Project Puretide didn’t need any food and with a little bit of patching him up, repairing and rebooting he was back in the game because he was a robot. Thus in the beginning they were the only two who could go out to scavenge. Eventually Ves’ron and Da’noh could also help, Kor’vesa found a splint for stabilizing Mal’cor’s fractured leg plus some extra medical equipment and after a few month’s they could all go out and search for stuff. Not long after this, Uri’vre found a lasercutter, this meant that they could now access parts of the ship that were inaccessible and after finding some rations, armor and weapons, the group set out to travel.
Chapter 5) Necromunda
The group didn’t leave the ship until now. When they looked out of the craft, they didn’t see anything but ashy wastes, not worth exploring. But now everyone has all of their gear again and is capable to venture into this waste. There wasn’t anything of value left on the ship and they couldn’t live there forever. The actual traveling was quite difficult because they needed to avoid the trade routes and occasional criminal scum roaming around. They were following a certain gang that was traveling a trade route and eventually there was a giant metal mountain on the horizon, it looked like one big scrap pile but as they got closer Puretide noted that he thought that the pile was actually a city, more accurately a hive city, more than 10’s of miles high and the size of a whole continent, this monstrosity wore the name ‘Necromunda’ , seeing no other option than to enter, the group approached.
Chapter 6) Going in
The group finally ended up at the front of Necromunda, there was no gate, no border, not even a door. Just a gaping hole. Uri’vre stood still for a while “We are standing right in front of an imperial city, it can’t be that easy to enter, can it?” Har’on answered: “Does it really matter? We have been traveling for weeks, this is our only chance of salvation, let’s go in” Project Puretide was the first to step in, with his internal equipment he made a superficial scan of their surroundings “There is nobody here and I don’t see any traps or anything, let’s go” and so the rest of the group followed with Uri’vre as the last one. It didn’t take long before they got spotted by a gang, more specifically an Orlock gang, and they were known for being a bit territorial. The gang didn’t immediately attack, they watched and followed from a distance. When the group took a break, the leader known as Roghar emerged from the shadows, he said: “Hey, blue boys!” “You don’t seem like the local folk of Necromunda, what is your business here?” And Uri’vre whispered something to Shas’o’verra and went over to Roghar “We are new here, we had to make a crash landing and need to go home, just give us a few days and we will be gone” -It went silent. -more than 50 people emerged from different places, different elevations, angels, front and back. And Roghar said: “look, you guys just entered our home. You are the intruders, not the refugees so just go or…” -In less than a second everybody from both sides had their weapon drawn. Roghar took a step forward so that he was standing right up against Uri’vre, he was a head shorter but it still felt intimidating. “Your weapons look quite new, I like them” “Thank you” says Uri’vre on a neutral tone, “But we have got to go” Roghar doesn’t listen, “These look quite good for a group who call themselves ‘refugees’ ”
-Ves’ron shares a concerned look with the group “We really aren’t searching for any trouble, please let us go” “I want that gun!” Exclaims Roghar and he points to the gun Har’on is holding. He was hesitant but eventually gives away his gun. Har’on has a tremble in his hands and his voice becomes shaky. Roghar continues, “now kneel and take of your helmet” Har’on doesn’t want to, out of fear of what will happen to him. Uri’vre raises her hands “Please, Har’on just kneel and it will all be over” “We have fought to get here and I don’t want to do this” Har’on says with a shaking voice.
*BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* with 3 simple shots he was dead. His body fell to the ground and Roghar was standing right next to him with the smoking gun. This was the first time that Uri’vre, a space marine felt regret and grief. A fire fight broke out but Uri’vre was to stunned to take part. “We’ve gotta get to safety!” screams Kor’vesa. “Let’s go that way!” Screams Da’noh.
When the group has finally out run the gang they realized that Uri’vre didn’t follow them, Shas’o’verra takes the charge from now on, they will start searching for Uri’vre.
Chapter 7) Desperate times
“When we split up we will cover the most ground” says Puretide. “NO FUCKING WAY, HAVE YOU SEEN THE SIZE OF THIS ABOMINATION THOSE GUE’LA CALL A CITY, WE WILL NOT SPLIT UP! WHEN WE WERE TOGETHER WE COULDN’T EVEN FEND OF A RAGTAG BAND OF GANG MEMBERS AND YOU EXPECT US TO SURVIVE ON OUR OWN?!” Screams Shas’o’verra. “WE HAVE JUST LOST ONE OF OUR GUYS AND OUR LEADER IS MISSING WE WILL STICK TOGETHER AND FIND A WAY OUT” “Alright” says Puretide, his neurochip prevents him from any emotion “Mal’cor, Da’noh and I shall work on a distress beacon, can you guys secure our surroundings and check our supplies please?” “Sure” says Da’noh. While Kor’vesa is securing a perimeter Al’un says: ”Hey,Kor” “Those guys really liked our weapons, they are probably better than anything that they have ever seen in this scrapyard” “What if we just make these weapons and we sell them to survive until we can return”. “We know how, it’s just that we need the equipment” says Ves’ron “let’s do this, we can always search for materials” -The next morning our group awakens surrounded by Orlock gang members. Roghar approaches Puretide. “Well look at this, your Space marine has left you, how pathetic” “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Screams Shas’o’verra. Roghar looks suprized “I will act like I haven’t heard that if…” “If what?” Says Al’un. “If you guys make your weapons for us, we have heard them talking about that” -Roghar points to Ves’ron, Kor’vesa and Al’un
Chapter 8) Require desperate measures
And now the group was working for the gang that killed one of them. They couldn’t explain the process to anybody because it was too complicated, so our 7 guys suddenly became a valuable resource. They worked all day and night to create guns and armor with the equipment that they had been given but it wasn’t streamlined, they were very crude and ramshackle version of the original because they theoretically knew how to make them but they didn’t have any practice yet. Roghar entered the room, “Guys, you aren’t really giving us much are you?” -everybody except Shas’o’verra is looking to the ground, Roghar continues. “You haven’t even gotten to half the amount we requested and they aren’t as good as you promised, that is quite disappointing isn’t it?” “I think you need a little bit of motivation” he continues. At that moment, 10 guys walk in, with the weapons that they made. One of them gives a baseball bat to Roghar. “How shall we do this? Oh I know a way!” “Everyone on your knees!” -Everyone except Shas’o’verra knelt. “Wow, are you the one standing up to me, are you trying to be the hero?” Roghar exclaimed “please make this easy for us or this isn’t going to go the way you want, being the brave soldier doesn’t work here” Shas’o’verra looked at Roghar in disgust, but knelt down. Roghar looked exited “Alright everyone let’s do something fun” -He pointed his bat at Mal’cor and said “Eeny” then he points his bat at Kor’vesa “Meeny” he counted everyone “Miny” “Moe” “Catch” ”a tiger” ”by” ”its” ”toe” ”and” “that” …… “is” ……. “you!!” -The next thing the heard was a loud *Crack*
And with but a single swing Al’un was dead. His brains splattered along the floor like a broken pot of jam. Everyone stood up right, Shas’o’verra stood right next to Roghar, they were around the same height. Roghar saw the anger in Shas’o’verra’s eyes and started laughing, he said: “I have ten guns pointed at all of your friends, what are you going to do without a single weapon” -without saying anything and with one swift swipe Shas’o’verra took the bolt pistol out of Roghar’s holster and pointed it to his forehead.
“You are fucking with us and now we are fucking with you.” Shas’o’verra looked dead inside, ready to die. “If I shoot, nobody comes out of here alive” -He paused “and if I don’t, we will still die” “So shooting you right now seems like the better option” Roghar started looking confused “Are you suic-” -some kind of loud stomping was coming closer and closer. One of the gangers said: “Eum, boss what is that?” “How would I know!” Roghar shouted. Their question was quickly answered when they saw a white spacemarine charging at them with a hunting knife the size of a forearm. Everyone, even the T’au were frozen and fearing for their life. Uri’vre grabbed one of them by the throat and crushed his windpipe she started screaming. “STAY” Uri’vre punched another one “THE” and stabbed another one “FUCK” at this moment the other guys were either running or shooting at Uri’vre really poorly because she seemed unbothered by it. “AWAY” that was the last one but she started slamming his corpse against a wall and some fleeing guys, out of rage “FROM” “MY” “GUYS!!” after a few seconds Uri’vre was calm and when the other T’au looked up, all they saw was a space marine drenched in the blood of some unfortunate gang members, riddle with bullet holes and with wounds that would kill any other person but Uri’vre just stood there.
Chapter 9) Homebound
Now that Uri’vre is back and Project Puretide, Shas’o’verra, Ves’ron, Kor’vesa, Mal’cor and Da’noh are still alive they will lay low for a bit and try to escape the Orlock gang’s territory. While taking watch Uri’vre comes back and says: “I am done being the refugee, we have got to do something about this, we can’t run forever!” And Da’noh replies: “Well we can’t really get home, can we?” “Oh, we certainly can but not right now, we need equipment and materials” Puretide answers. “So how about we fight fire with fire, make a gang of our own, trade illegal weapons and with the money we can start building our weapons!” Says Uri’vre. Shas’o’verra’s face lights up, for the first time since Har’on’s death. “Thats it!” “Let’s do this, we will call ourselves: ‘Tau’va’saar’! ” -And so the now newly created gang started stealing and trading weapons, eventually creating their own T’au weaponry, like they did for the Orlock gang. It went really great because there aren’t really any war grade weapons on the market of necromunda, only boxes of scrap that could explode in your face half of the time and get jammed the other half.
Rather quikly the gang got reputation because they were constantly selling high quality weapons and they were coordinated, something that isn’t that common in Necromunda. With this newfound popularity also came some downsides, the wider gang network now knew of their presence and the fact that this gang was of xeno origin didn’t help with that. After just one month, the Ordo Xenos got news of this ‘Xeno uprising’ and that is the most heretical thing in their minds.
\This is the origin of the gang called ‘Tau’va’saar’, there will come 3 other gangs but almost every story will be written out of the perspective of the Tau gang**
Chapter 10) Heretics and Xenos
Lord Inquisitor Rostov looks around the room, his coffee in his one hand and a heap of papers under the other one. “Well, why was I summoned here so urgently??” “Sir, Kryptman has summoned you. I shall escort you to him” -One of the assistance servitors was standing in front of him, unlike the regular servitor he looked quite sophisticated “Bring me to him” Rostov says. -Rostov arrives at Kryptman’s office, his coffee already being cold. He walks inside and greats Kryptman, “Why have you called me, now my coffee is cold.” “Don’t worry, my servitor is already getting a new cup for you, we’ve gotta talk business .” Kryptman’s face looks tense, this is a unusual sight for Rostov. “Well, what’s the problem, do we have another ‘Beast’ or something? ” - Rustov pulls a little smirk on his face “oh no, worse, way worse” -Kryptman pauses for a second “The T’au have landed on Necromunda” -The room is drenched in silence. Kryptman continues “But not in the usual way, they have crash landed and the refugees found shelter in Necromunda, later they begun a weapontrade that overtook the regular weapons ” “Xeno-weaponry is getting distributed like candy on Necromunda” -Rostov is silent “I wanted to start a purging of this filthy Xeno influence, but to do that I will need your permission” Kryptman continues. “It looks like you have a lot of work left, if you just say yes and let me be, I will clear the problem and you can go do your regular business” -Rostov looks in the eyes of Kryptman “So… you want to purge the biggest hive city in the milky way?” Rostov scoffs “What are you gonna do? Burn Necromunda down?” “No, I will not allow this” -Kryptman looks suprised . “But-” “NO, We are not going to purge a hive city for 7 blueberries!” Kryptman corrected him “Technically it are 5 fish people, one heretic space marine and a … True a.i.” “just let me think! I will have a solution by tomorrow. ” -without a word or look the Lord Inquisitor walks away, quite angry. While Kryptman’s servitor is following him with his coffee, the servitor cannot keep up with the inquisitor.
The next day Rostov arrives at Kryptman’s office. “Kryptman!” Rostov shouts. Kryptman opens the door and lets Rostov inside, they both sit down and Kryptman begins “So tell me, what have you got planned for Necromunda?” Rostov thinks a bit and says “What if I send my scions to Necromunda with the command to confiscate any Xeno technology they find and to assassinate the Tau” “And how are you going to locate the Tau?” Kryptman looks confused. “My Scions have already tracked down their home base, we just need to launch the mission” says Rostov, he looks quite proud of himself. “Alright, but from now on those Tau are completely your responsibility ” Says Kryptman. They shake hands and Rostov goes to his office. Tomorrow he will debrief the scions.
Now is the next day and the scions are all sitting around a table, with one place left empty for Rostov. He walks inside but doesn’t sit down, instead he walks around the table like he is patrolling a perimeter. “Two days ago there was a sight of Tau refugees on the planet of Necromunda, I have made it clear that I do NOT want mass destruction or a purging, instead I want a clean, effortless assassination.” “I have chosen you five because you can work together as a team and I know you guys are fit for this job but let it be clear that you will not return home until all 7 refugees are dead, you will be paid ofcourse but if but one of them escapes, you will have to hunt it down.” “And what if we fail?” Says Falcon. Rostov looks at him “You won’t” -he pauses “Because we will not pick you up before the job is done, it doesn’t matter how long it takes. We will give you rations for one week and anything after that is on your own account” -The group of scions trade a concerned look. “Oh and by the way, you will be extra paid for every piece of Xeno tech you return, Kryptman ensures it” -The room is silent “So why are you, Lord Inquisitor Rostov and Inquisitor Kryptman, head of the ordo Xenos so worried about 7 Tau refugees?” Says Eagle. “Because Tau are like vermin, once they are on a planet you can’t get them off anymore” says Rostov. “Now get to your ship, you have some blueberries to snipe!” The scions all get into their pods, quite confused at what has just happened, never before had they such a strange and confusing debrief.
Chapter 11) First contact
*This chapter is the first battle report, the battle was a standard begin of a campaign with Wannes Vervoort playing T’au’va’saar and Jan-Pieter van Thielen playing Tempestus Scions, all of the actions described in this chapter are decided by dice rolls and tabletop games, not by writing or storytelling. The names that got used before, will now be linked to models, see image reference 3*
After landing on Necromunda, the pods dropped the Scions of and left, they are on their own now. The scions landed next to Necromunda, not inside but they know that the Tau have made their homebase in the Spire, this means that it will take around one week before any contact between Tau and Scions will be made. The Scion’s ration have ran out about 2 days ago and they haven’t seen a single Tau yet. They have started scrapping some metal to trade and buy weapons and food, because of this way of traveling and living they are quite familiar with what they call their ‘Home turf’ that is a mazes of corridors and tunnels inside the Hive city.
From there they will launch some exploration missions, in the hope that they will catch the Tau off guard. And they did, after 4 days the scions find the Tau, they follow them and scatter a bit so that they can attack from different angles. Hawk goes straight to them to confront Ves’ron. “Hey, you there!” Hawk screams as he walks closer to Ves’ron “Hey Blueberry, what are you doing here?” Ves’ron whispers “Ah fuck, not this again” and he unlocks his holster and holds his hand on his pistol. Hawk continues “Where is the rest of your gang?” -Even though Hawk was wearing a full face respirator you could hear the smirk he had on his face when he said those words. “My friends are currently out on a mission, I am guarding the perimeter of our home.” -That was anything but the truth, the 6 other T’au were hiding nearby, waiting and listening to what was happening. Sadly enough, Falcon also noticed this but waited to shoot his shot. Hawk continued “Well, we are send here to kill you and your buddies so we will take you hostage and wait until the others arrive” “Why would you want us dead?” Ves’ron tries to catch him off guard. “We want you off of this planet” Hawk replies “But we want to leave this planet, just let us board a ship and we will be gone” Ves’ron’s face lights up, in the hope that they might get off of this hell hole without any more bloodshed. Hawk starts laughing “Well, there is one problem…”
“We get paid for every corpse we deliver to Kryptman.” Ves’ron was frozen in place, his last hope of leaving shattered, like a thin sheet of ice, all hope of returning was lost. Hawk started laughing once again and Ves’ron got awoken by this muffled sound, making fun of him for being ‘naïve’. He pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Hawk. At the same moment Falcon fired his shot on Shas’o’vera, hitting him in the chest. His armor tanked this one las-shot but wouldn’t tank another one. Shas’o’verra shot his plasma weapon, hitting Falcon on the arm, the plasma melting his amor and boiling his flesh underneath, Falcon let out an agonizing scream of pain and fear. With this scream a fire fight started. Kor’vesa and Puretide immediately came to help backing up Ves’ron and they formed a fire line, like in the old days when they were training at home. Shas’o’verra quickly identified the leader, Eagle and tried to snipe him, this failed but it let Eagle be distracted long enough for Puretide to launch a dispersed fusion shot into his side, quickly injuring him. Uri’vre got flashbacks from the Orlock gang and Mal’cor came to sooth the space marine. He swore he could even hear her crying. The scions were quick to react, their lasguns hitting Ves’ron in his visor and Kor’vesa on his hand, but nevertheless they fought. This was no gang fight, this was a war between two elite groups of soldiers, ready to die for their comrades. The fire fight started to drag on, these scions were getting overwhelmed by the firepower and determination of the T’au, Hawk screamed to wasp “These aren’t your standard refugees” and wasp replied “You don’t say?!?” Wasp was currently to busy with trying to save eagle. “We’ve gotta fall back!” screams Wasp, “We can’t kill them if they kill us first” hawk agreed and they dragged their unconscious but still alive friends to safety, regrouping on their own home turf. Falcon was too badly injured and he will need an extened time to recover. The T’au now knew of the danger in the shadows, the scions blew their surprise attack and this war was far from being over… While the T’au were regrouping and patching up Ves’ron and Kor’vesa, a tech-priest of the adeptus mechanicus approached. He raised his arms and said “Oh yes! It really is you, I have been searching for you after the fire fight, I can’t believe it’s really you guys! ” He fell to his knees right infornt of Uri’vre. The space marine looked down at this weird mix of flesh and steel, you could barely call it a human anymore. “Rise, Gue’la but lower your weapons, let’s talk” The tech-priest’s name was Tiresus, he found the Tau tech and implemented him into his backpack and weapons, he used to be a xeno-biologist until the Magos superior kicked him out of their order for being to fanatic about his job. Now that has encountered living Xenos and can study their tech, it looks like his wildest dreams have come true. He is allowed to join the gang but isn’t yet allowed near any xeno weapons, for safety reasons.

In the near future, we will begin testing of a new temporary battle type: Modern Battles.
During this unique event, players will be able to helm some of the most advanced warships from the two major powers right now: The United States and Russia. Eight new ships will be temporary added to the game: American ships Arleigh Burke, Ticonderoga, Wisconsin, and Nimitz; as well as Russian ships Sovremenny, Kara, Admiral Lazarev, and Admiral Kuznetsov. These ships will differ severely with ships currently in the game, most notably with a new armament type: Missiles. This and other new features present in this mode will be described below.
Missiles:

• This armament type will work similarly to the Airstrike armament; a section of the map will be selected and a group of missiles will fly towards it. These missiles, however, will be invulnerable during flight.
• A new consumable will be added to counter this armament: Chaff. This consumable works similar to the Smoke Generator consumable. If a missile group enters an area with chaff present, they will fly in different directions, lowering the chance a ship gets hit.
• Ship from the United States will be equipped with HE Missiles, which strike from above; while those from Russia will be equipped with AP Missiles, which strike the sides of ships.

Ships:

• In addition to missiles, surface ships will be equipped with rapid firing guns and acoustic homing torpedoes.
• These ships will be very quick and maneuverable, with low armor protection but high hit points.
• Aircraft carriers will be equipped with jet aircraft, equipped with anti-ship missiles and bombs; as well as automatic variant of Chaff, which will be activated when enemy missiles are launched at the carrier, and the automatic Fighter consumable. They will not have shipborne missiles.
• The consumables, in addition to the aforementioned Chaff, will include a variant of the Fast Damage Control Team with unlimited charges, and improved Repair Party, Hydroacoustic Search, and Surveillance Radar (Destroyers will have the choice to equip Smoke Generator in this slot.). There may be slight variations in consumable parameters based on a ships nationality and type.
• Wisconsin has thicker armor and bigger guns than other shops, but will have a longer reload and lower speed.
• Kara has no main battery guns available, but will have stronger missiles than her counterparts.
• As of right now, these ships have no ASW armaments.

If the test of this game mode is successful and player feedback is positive, we will consider adding these ships to the main game, in which case we will add ASW defenses.
Ship stats are listed below:
American Destroyer Arleigh Burke:
Hit points – 33600. Plating - 15 mm.
Sonar:
Reload time - 7.5 s. Duration of a single ping sector – 25 s. Double ping – 60 s. Ping velocity – 500 m/s. Range – 16.5 km.
Main battery - 1x1 127 mm. Firing range - 12.6 km.Maximum HE shell damage – 1800. HE shell armor penetration - 21 mm. Chance to cause fire – 5%. HE initial velocity - 808 m/s.Maximum AP shell damage - 2100. AP initial velocity - 808 m/s.Reload time – 1.5 s. 180 degree turn time - 5.0 s. Maximum dispersion - 110 m. Sigma – 2.00.
Missiles (HE):
Maximum damage - 9500. Chance to cause fire – 20%. Armor penetration – 59mm. Number of groups - 2. Missile speed: 950m/s. Missiles in a group - 20. Maximum range: 15 km. Reload time - 40.0 s.
Torpedo tubes - 2x3 533 mm.
Maximum damage - 17900. Range - 16.5 km. Speed - 66 kt. Reload time - 90 s. Launcher 180 degree turn time – 7.2 s. Torpedo detectability - 1.4 km.
AA defense: 1x6 20.0 mm.
AA defense mid-range: continuous damage per second – 560, hit probability – 100%, action zone - 7.5 km.
Maximum speed – 35.0 kt. Turning circle radius - 810 m. Rudder shift time – 5.3 s. Surface detectability – 10.0 km. Air detectability – 5.5 km. Detectability after firing main guns in smoke – 4.5 km.
Available consumables:
1 slot – Fast Damage Control Teams (Duration time - 5 s; Reload time - 30 s; Equipment is unlimited)
2 slot – Repair Party (Duration time - 28 s; HP/s - 0.66%; Reload time – 60 s; Charges - 4)
3 slot – Hydroacoustic Search (Duration time – 120 s; Detection of ships – 5.0 km; Detection of torpedoes – 3.5 km; Reload time – 120 s; Charges - 3)
4 slot - Surveillance Radar (Duration time - 30 s; Detection of ships - 10.0 km; Reload time - 120 s; Charges - 3)
5 slot – Chaff (Duration time – 10 s; Dispersion time – 100 s; Missile dispersion – 100 m; Reload time – 80 s; Charges - 4) / Smoke Generator (Duration time – 30 s; Dispersion time – 130 s; Reload time – 160 s; Charges - 3)
American Cruiser Ticonderoga:
Hit points – 56300. Plating - 15 mm.
Sonar:
Reload time - 7.5 s. Duration of a single ping sector – 25 s. Double ping – 60 s. Ping velocity – 500 m/s. Range – 16.5 km.
Main battery - 2x1 127 mm. Firing range - 12.6 km.
Maximum HE shell damage – 1800. HE shell armor penetration - 21 mm. Chance to cause fire – 5%. HE initial velocity - 808 m/s.Maximum AP shell damage - 2100. AP initial velocity - 808 m/s.Reload time – 1.5 s. 180 degree turn time - 5.0 s. Maximum dispersion - 110 m. Sigma – 2.00.
Missiles (HE):
Maximum damage - 9500. Chance to cause fire – 20%. Armor penetration – 59mm. Number of groups - 2. Missile speed - 950m/s. Missiles in a group - 35. Maximum range: 15 km. Reload time - 40.0 s.
Torpedo tubes - 2x3 533 mm.
Maximum damage - 17900. Range - 16.5 km. Speed - 66 kt. Reload time - 90 s. Launcher 180 degree turn time – 7.2 s. Torpedo detectability - 1.4 km.
Maximum speed – 32.5 kt. Turning circle radius - 950 m. Rudder shift time – 8.6 s. Surface detectability – 12.5 km. Air detectability – 6.8 km. Detectability after firing main guns in smoke – 6.5 km.
AA defense: 2x6 20.0 mm.
AA defense mid-range: continuous damage per second – 850, hit probability – 100%, action zone - 7.5 km.
Available consumables:
1 slot – Fast Damage Control Teams (Duration time - 5 s; Reload time - 30 s; Equipment is unlimited)
2 slot – Repair Party (Duration time - 28 s; HP/s - 0.66%; Reload time – 60 s; Charges - 4)
3 slot – Hydroacoustic Search (Duration time – 120 s; Detection of ships – 5.0 km; Detection of torpedoes – 3.5 km; Reload time – 120 s; Charges - 3)
4 slot - Surveillance Radar (Duration time - 30 s; Detection of ships - 10.0 km; Reload time - 120 s; Charges - 3)
5 slot – Chaff (Duration time – 5 s; Dispersion time – 60 s; Missile dispersion – 50 m; Reload time – 60 s; Charges - 3)
American Battleship Wisconsin:
Hit points – 79000. Plating - 32 mm.
Main battery - 3x3 406 mm. Firing range - 23.4 km.
Maximum HE shell damage – 5700. HE shell armor penetration - 68 mm. Chance to cause fire – 36%. HE initial velocity - 820 m/s.Maximum AP shell damage - 13500. AP initial velocity - 762 m/s.Reload time – 25.0 s. 180 degree turn time - 45.0 s. Maximum dispersion - 250 m. Sigma – 1.90.
Missiles (HE):
Maximum damage - 9500. Chance to cause fire – 20%. Armor penetration – 59mm. Number of groups - 2. Missile speed - 950m/s. Missiles in a group - 24. Maximum range: 15 km. Reload time - 40.0 s.
Secondary Armament:
6x2 127 mm, range – 7.0 km.Maximum HE shell damage - 1800. Chance to cause fire – 5%. HE initial velocity – 762 m/s.
AA defense: 4x6 20.0 mm, 6x2 127.0 mm.
AA defense mid-range: continuous damage per second – 1090, hit probability – 100%, action zone - 7.5 km.
Explosions in a salvo – 8, damage within an explosion – 1610, action zone 5.0 - 7.5 km.
Maximum speed – 33.0 kt. Turning circle radius - 920 m. Rudder shift time – 17.1 s. Surface detectability – 15.7 km. Air detectability – 11.4 km. Detectability after firing main guns in smoke – 15.6 km.
Available consumables:
1 slot – Fast Damage Control Teams (Duration time - 20 s; Reload time - 40 s; Equipment is unlimited)
2 slot – Repair Party (Duration time - 28 s; HP/s - 0.66%; Reload time – 60 s; Charges - 4)
3 slot – Hydroacoustic Search (Duration time – 120 s; Detection of ships – 5.0 km; Detection of torpedoes – 3.5 km; Reload time – 120 s; Charges - 3)
4 slot - Surveillance Radar (Duration time - 30 s; Detection of ships - 10.0 km; Reload time - 120 s; Charges - 3)
5 slot – Chaff (Duration time – 5 s; Dispersion time – 20 s; Missile dispersion – 75 m; Reload time – 40 s; Charges - 2)
American Aircraft Carrier Nimitz:
Hit points – 81500. Plating - 15 mm.
AA defense: 2x6 20.0 mm.
AA defense mid-range: continuous damage per second – 850, hit probability – 100%, action zone - 7.5 km.
Maximum speed – 31.5 kt. Turning circle radius - 1050 m. Rudder shift time – 15.0 s. Surface detectability – 16.4 km. Air detectability – 15.0 km.
Available consumables:
1 slot – Fast Damage Control Teams (Duration time - 100 s; Reload time - 30 s; Equipment is unlimited)
2 slot – Chaff (Duration time – 10 s; Dispersion time – 60 s; Missile dispersion – 150 m; Reload time – 40 s; Charges - 4)
3 slot – Fighter (Duration time – 300 s; Reload time – 30 s; Charges - 3)
Attack aircraft (Boeing F/A-18 F):Hit points - 2080, cruising speed – 777.0 knots, size of attacking flight - 4, aircraft per squadron - 16, aircraft restoration time - 90 s, detectability range - 15.0 km, number of aircraft on deck - 20.Missiles in payload - 4, maximum missile damage - 9500, armor penetration - 59 mm, chance to cause fire – 20%.
Dive Bombers (Boeing F/A-18 F):
Hit points - 2080, cruising speed – 777.0 knots, size of attacking flight - 4, aircraft per squadron - 16, aircraft restoration time - 90 s, detectability range - 15.0 km, number of aircraft on deck - 20.Bombs in payload - 3, bomb type - HE, maximum bomb damage - 16000, armor penetration - 81 mm, chance to cause fire – 64%.
Russian Destroyer Sovremenny:
Hit points – 32500. Plating - 15 mm.
Sonar:
Reload time - 7.5 s. Duration of a single ping sector – 25 s. Double ping – 60 s. Ping velocity – 500 m/s. Range – 10.0 km.
Main battery - 2x2 130 mm. Firing range - 12.3 km.
Maximum HE shell damage – 1900. HE shell armor penetration - 22 mm. Chance to cause fire – 10%. HE initial velocity – 950 m/s.Maximum AP shell damage - 2600. AP initial velocity - 950 m/s.Reload time – 2.5 s. 180 degree turn time - 5.0 s. Maximum dispersion - 108 m. Sigma – 2.00.
Missiles (AP):
Maximum damage – 11000. Number of groups - 2. Missiles in a group - 28. Missile speed - 1000m/s. Maximum range: 15 km. Reload time - 80.0 s. AA DPS: 660. AA range: 7.5 km.
Torpedo tubes - 2x2 533 mm.
Maximum damage - 14400. Range - 10.0 km. Speed - 60 kt. Reload time - 85 s. Launcher 180 degree turn time – 7.2 s. Torpedo detectability - 1.2 km.
AA defense: 4x6 30.0 mm.
AA defense mid-range: continuous damage per second – 990, hit probability – 100%, action zone - 7.5 km.
Maximum speed – 32.7 kt. Turning circle radius - 810 m. Rudder shift time – 5.3 s. Surface detectability – 9.8 km. Air detectability – 5.3 km. Detectability after firing main guns in smoke – 4.4 km.
Available consumables:
1 slot – Fast Damage Control Teams (Duration time - 5 s; Reload time - 30 s; Equipment is unlimited)
2 slot – Repair Party (Duration time - 28 s; HP/s - 0.6%; Reload time – 60 s; Charges - 4)
3 slot – Hydroacoustic Search (Duration time – 120 s; Detection of ships – 5.0 km; Detection of torpedoes – 3.5 km; Reload time – 120 s; Charges - 3)
4 slot - Surveillance Radar (Duration time - 25 s; Detection of ships - 12.0 km; Reload time - 120 s; Charges - 3)
5 slot – Chaff (Duration time – 10 s; Dispersion time – 90 s; Missile dispersion – 50 m; Reload time – 40 s; Charges - 4) / Smoke Generator (Duration time – 20 s; Dispersion time – 97 s; Reload time – 160 s; Charges - 3)
Russian Cruiser Kara:
Hit points – 57500. Plating - 15 mm.
Sonar:
Reload time - 7.5 s. Duration of a single ping sector – 25 s. Double ping – 60 s. Ping velocity – 500 m/s. Range – 10.0 km.
Missiles (AP):
Maximum damage - 11000. Number of groups - 2. Missiles in a group - 40. Missile speed - 1000m/s. Maximum range: 15 km. Reload time - 80.0 s. AA DPS: 880. AA range: 7.5 km.
Torpedo tubes - 2x3 533 mm.Maximum damage - 14400. Range - 10.0 km. Speed - 60 kt. Reload time - 85 s. Launcher 180 degree turn time – 7.2 s. Torpedo detectability - 1.2 km.
AA defense: 4x6 30.0 mm.
AA defense mid-range: continuous damage per second – 990, hit probability – 100%, action zone - 7.5 km.
Maximum speed – 34.0 kt. Turning circle radius - 890 m. Rudder shift time – 6.7 s. Surface detectability – 12.5 km. Air detectability – 6.8 km. Detectability after firing main guns in smoke – 6.5 km.
Available consumables:
1 slot – Fast Damage Control Teams (Duration time - 5 s; Reload time - 30 s; Equipment is unlimited)
2 slot – Repair Party (Duration time - 28 s; HP/s - 0.66%; Reload time – 60 s; Charges - 4)
3 slot – Hydroacoustic Search (Duration time – 120 s; Detection of ships – 5.0 km; Detection of torpedoes – 3.5 km; Reload time – 120 s; Charges - 3)
4 slot - Surveillance Radar (Duration time - 25 s; Detection of ships - 12.0 km; Reload time - 120 s; Charges - 3)
5 slot – Chaff (Duration time – 5 s; Dispersion time – 60 s; Missile dispersion – 50 m; Reload time – 60 s; Charges - 3)
Russian Battleship Admiral Lazarev:
Hit points – 68700. Plating - 25 mm.
Sonar:
Reload time - 7.5 s. Duration of a single ping sector – 25 s. Double ping – 60 s. Ping velocity – 500 m/s. Range – 10.0 km.
Main battery - 1x2 130 mm. Firing range - 12.3 km.
Maximum HE shell damage – 1900. HE shell armor penetration - 22 mm. Chance to cause fire – 10%. HE initial velocity – 950 m/s.Maximum AP shell damage - 2600. AP initial velocity - 950 m/s.Reload time – 2.5 s. 180 degree turn time - 5.0 s. Maximum dispersion - 108 m. Sigma – 2.00.
Missiles (AP):Maximum damage - 11000. Number of groups - 2. Missiles in a group - 36. Missile speed - 1000m/s. Maximum range: 15 km. Reload time - 80.0 s. AA DPS: 770. AA range: 7.5 km.
Torpedo tubes - 2x5 533 mm.
Maximum damage - 14400. Range - 10.0 km. Speed - 60 kt. Reload time - 85 s. Launcher 180 degree turn time – 7.2 s. Torpedo detectability - 1.2 km.
AA defense: 8x6 30.0 mm.
AA defense mid-range: continuous damage per second – 1090, hit probability – 100%, action zone - 7.5 km.
Maximum speed – 32.0 kt. Turning circle radius - 900 m. Rudder shift time – 13.2 s. Surface detectability – 14.5 km. Air detectability – 10.4 km. Detectability after firing main guns in smoke – 13.6 km.
Available consumables:
1 slot – Fast Damage Control Teams (Duration time - 15 s; Reload time - 40 s; Equipment is unlimited)
2 slot – Repair Party (Duration time - 28 s; HP/s - 0.66%; Reload time – 60 s; Charges - 4)
3 slot – Hydroacoustic Search (Duration time – 120 s; Detection of ships – 5.0 km; Detection of torpedoes – 3.5 km; Reload time – 120 s; Charges - 3)
4 slot - Surveillance Radar (Duration time - 25 s; Detection of ships - 12.0 km; Reload time - 120 s; Charges - 3)
5 slot – Chaff (Duration time – 5 s; Dispersion time – 40 s; Missile dispersion – 75 m; Reload time – 40 s; Charges - 2)
Russian Aircraft Carrier Admiral Kuznetsov:
Hit points – 85600. Plating - 15 mm.
AA defense: 6x6 30.0 mm.
AA defense mid-range: continuous damage per second – 1050, hit probability – 100%, action zone - 7.5 km.
Maximum speed – 29.0 kt. Turning circle radius - 970 m. Rudder shift time – 14.3 s. Surface detectability – 15.4 km. Air detectability – 14.0 km.
Available consumables:
1 slot – Fast Damage Control Teams (Duration time - 100 s; Reload time - 30 s; Equipment is unlimited)
2 slot – Chaff (Duration time – 10 s; Dispersion time – 60 s; Missile dispersion – 200 m; Reload time – 40 s; Charges - 4)
3 slot – Fighter (Duration time – 300 s; Reload time – 30 s; Charges - 3)
Attack aircraft (Mikoyan MiG-29K):Hit points - 2340, cruising speed – 810.0 knots, size of attacking flight - 10, aircraft per squadron - 10, aircraft restoration time - 90 s, detectability range - 15.0 km, number of aircraft on deck - 20.Missiles in payload - 4, maximum missile damage - 11000.
Dive bombers (Mikoyan MiG-29K):
Hit points - 2340, cruising speed - 810.0 knots, size of attacking flight - 10, aircraft per squadron - 10, aircraft restoration time - 90 s, detectability range - 15.0 km, number of aircraft on deck - 20.Bombs in payload - 3, bomb type - HE, maximum bomb damage - 13500, armor penetration - 81 mm, chance to cause fire – 53%.
All ship stats are listed without upgrades or commander skills.

The gas giant loomed large in the viewport, ballooning as the ship coasted toward it, the colorful blue hues of its swirling bands reflecting the glow of the system’s star.
Darren could make out the bright, scarred surface of an ice moon drifting lazily past, framed against the rivers of flowing hydrogen and helium. Silhouetted against the Jupiter-mass object was their destination – Halfpoint Station.
Having come from Earth, which was still a backwater when compared to many of the Imperium’s more developed worlds, the sheer size and grandeur of the structure took his breath away.
It was hard to gauge its true scale in the vacuum of space where there was no atmospheric haze, and there were no landmarks for reference, the unfiltered light creating harsh shadows. As they drew nearer, however, he was able to pick out some of the massive fuel tankers that swarmed its ports like clouds of gnats.
Those vessels put anything created by Humanity to shame – their purpose being to dip into the upper atmosphere of the gas giant, harvesting its resources to fuel the ships that made their berth here.
Calling it enormous was an understatement. It must have been nine miles tall, the main hull of the station forming a long, relatively thin vertical shaft. Surrounding that shaft were half a dozen rotating rings, each one connected to the central column by spokes, the pinpoints of innumerable windows glinting as they slowly turned.
At its apex was a dome of immense proportions, sitting proudly atop the structure, the crystalline material that made up its transparent hull glittering in the starlight. Inside, he could make out glimpses of regal skyscrapers and patches of parkland – an entire city encapsulated in a habitat that had a breathtaking view of the planet.
Darren pursed his lips as he looked down at the device on his wrist, the tiny display showing the familiar text of an article he must have read at least a dozen times by this point.
Halfpoint Station was situated on the outskirts of the Imperium’s sphere of influence, a region of space known only as the Periphery. This put it soundly outside of Purp jurisdiction, but the place still saw a lot of traffic, as the station was right in the middle of a relatively well-traveled shipping route between the three big powers.
While it had started its life as little more than a place to fuel up and get resupplied, being located outside any of the major spheres of influence had its benefits, and the station had garnered a bit of a reputation for its more permissive policies. Now, it was said to be populated by hired guns, smugglers, gamblers, and anyone else who might appreciate discretion.
The Human frowned as he looked out the window once more and tried to reconcile the gleaming edifice before him with the dark reputation the article in his hands presented.
He didn’t have long to dwell on it before the pilot’s crackly voice came through a hidden intercom in the cabin, informing the passengers that they were commencing docking procedures.
The woman spoke in accented Shil. What that accent was, Darren had no clue, but he knew it wasn’t the same one spoken by his professors – linguistic or mechanical.
He glanced around at his fellow travelers, seeing a few species that he didn’t recognize, along with the more familiar Shil’vati. The aliens were easily identifiable by the purple hue of their skin, their sharp tusks, and their seven-foot height.
Several of them returned his gaze, some curious, some covetous.
Males were rare in the Imperium.
Hell, males were rare, period.
By the standards of most races out in the galaxy, Humanity were the strange ones for having an equal number of men and women. Even six years into the occupation, most were still struggling to adapt to the new paradigm brought on by that reality.
Darren was no exception.
Still, he managed to ignore the stares, turning his attention to the smart display on his wrist, bringing up his itinerary. He was headed to Hab-Ring Five, and the only information that he’d been given beyond that were some coordinates to who-knew-where.
He sighed, wishing – not for the first time – that he might have a fellow first timer to converse with.
Unfortunately, that was a pipe dream.
The lack of other Humans on his ship wasn’t surprising. The Imperium had only recently relaxed enough to begin authorizing travel visas allowing Humans to leave Earth, and his kind were still a rarity on the Galactic stage.
As to why he was out here out in the ass end of space?
He’d been offered a job.
He was an engineer by trade, at least according to his degree, and he specialized in the combination of alien and Human technology. It might seem like an oddly specific skillset, but it was one that was in high demand, as just about every industry on Earth was trying to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Imperium’s literal space-age technology.
It was complicated work, but he was quite good at it, if he said so himself – and his professors seemed to agree. His gift had catapulted him through university and had apparently landed him a very lucrative offer to take up a position on Halfpoint.
How they’d heard of him, he wasn’t too sure. Nor did he truthfully know exactly what the job entailed. Apparently, he was to be briefed on-location.
Regardless, off-world work was a rare opportunity for any Human, let alone one fresh out of school, and visiting an alien space station was a lot more interesting than backpacking around Europe for a year.
Whatever happened, it was going to be an adventure.
The ship matched velocity with one of the rotating rings, the structure at least half a mile tall in its own right, covered in tiny windows that made it look like a whole city block had been condensed down into the shape of a donut.
Now that he was a little closer, Darren could see that the station was actually far from pristine. Its hull was pocked with haphazard repairs, the newer sections shining brighter than their older counterparts, its armored panels pitted with little craters from space debris and micro-meteorite impacts.
The ship lined up with a docking port, and an umbilical walkway began to extrude from the ring, reaching out towards them. It looked like the jib of a crane, covered over with a flexible material that bore a suspicious resemblance to a grey tarp.
Surely it wasn’t actually a tarp? No, it had to be some kind of alien supertech – too advanced for him to recognize at a glance.
Right?
His thoughts did little to reassure him as the umbilical connected to the shuttle’s airlock with a tangible thud.
Shaking his head, he retrieved his travel bag, then made his way down the aisle to join the queue of passengers who were waiting to disembark. More of them crammed in behind him, and he tried to ignore their uncomfortable proximity.
He hadn’t actually spent a lot of time around aliens during his schooling. One of his professors had been a Shil, but she had been professional to a fault and had always kept a healthy distance from her students.
Of course, she had still managed to be rather intimidating despite that, her head seeming to scrape the ceiling every time she stepped into the classroom. However, Darren was rapidly discovering that being surrounded by women who stood head and shoulders above him was a different experience altogether.
It was nothing to get worked up over, though. He just needed to-
The Shil standing behind him pressed close – uncomfortably close – Darren swearing that there was room enough in the aisle for her to keep her distance. Suddenly, he felt a sharp twinge in his rear.
Had she just...pinched him? No, it had to have been a mistake.
He turned to glance over his shoulder, looking up at the towering Purp. “Sorry, Ma’am, I must have bumped into you.”
Her sly smile faded as she furrowed her brow in confusion. Before she had time to formulate a reply, the intercom above the exit beeped.
“Oh, looks like we’re moving again!” Darren chimed as he began to follow the queue. “Sorry!”
He followed the procession of towering women into the passenger ship’s airlock. Both of the pressurized doors were open, and before him stretched the umbilical. The worryingly thin material that protected them from the deadly vacuum of space was wrapped taut around a metal frame, and the walkway beneath his feet was made up of a simple grate.
After a short walk, they emerged into a cavernous dock area, so large that it was more like standing in some kind of indoor stadium than anything that could be compared to a space station. There were stacks of shipping containers and unidentifiable machinery everywhere he looked.
It was a challenge not to stop and examine the equipment, each new sight piquing his interest, each strange device begging to be investigated. As he followed the other passengers to the far end of the room – his head on a swivel – he almost bumped into one of the containers. To his surprise, it was floating a foot off the ground, suspended on an anti-gravity cushion.
It was funny – no matter how many times he saw it, it never stopped being surreal to see something just…float.
As he stooped to look beneath it, an irritated dockworker leaned out from behind it to yell at whoever was in her way. She stopped when she saw him, raising a skeptical eyebrow. She was a Rakiri, if Darren remembered correctly. She resembled a towering werewolf, a pair of cat-like eyes peering out from beneath her black fur, her facial features strangely leonine. She was clad in dirty, yellow coveralls that hung loosely from her broad shoulders, exposing the ragged tank top that she wore beneath it. Tufts of her dark coat poked out around the faded garment, giving her a surprisingly fluffy appearance.
“You lost, boy?” she asked as she shooed him out of her path. “Stay behind the yellow warning markings unless you want to get that cute butt smushed,” she added with a nod toward the deck. She continued to push her heavy container, moving it effortlessly on its gravity cushion.
More dock workers were assembling to stare at him, perhaps having never seen a Human before. Or perhaps it was because he was male? It was hard to tell. Either way, a small crowd of yellow-clad women saw him off, a couple of them hooting at him and waving. Not sure if this was some kind of alien greeting, he shyly waved back, eliciting laughter from them after a moment of surprise.
One started to make her way over to him before a menacing growl from her superior made her freeze in place sheepishly. Darren took that as his cue to move on – he didn’t want to get anyone else in trouble by being in the way.
He arrived at a security gate, and after being asked to show his visa, he was subjected to a very thorough – and in his opinion unnecessary – pat-down. Once he was cleared, he emerged into the station proper. He stepped out of the way of the women behind him, then set his travel bag down on the metal deck, taking in the alien sights and sounds for a moment.
Far from being a sterile, clinical environment, he found himself in a bustling bazaar worthy of any city back on Earth. It scarcely felt like he was standing inside a station at all, what passed for the ceiling so high above his head that he could barely make out the crisscrossing support beams and maintenance catwalks.
It was styled like a cramped street, too small for cars, almost like the city center of some old European town had been reimagined in an industrial style. Civilian quarters that resembled apartment blocks rose up towards the ceiling, connecting to it in some places, likely leading up to higher levels of the station.
In every nook and cranny – anywhere there was room – the denizens of the hab-ring had set up little stalls where they were hawking their wares to the tourists who had just boarded. Colorful awnings fluttered in the artificial breeze from the air recyclers, and insulated cables that had been patched from the station’s systems trailed along walls and floors, powering streetside food stands and colorful neon signs.
Speaking of the denizens, they came in all shapes and sizes. Darren had never seen so many varieties of alien in one place before. He could make out a few Shil and Rakiri, but most were unknown to him, the varied hues of their skin and clothes creating a bustling sea of color.
He checked the device on his wrist again, pulling up the coordinates that his new employer had forwarded to him. This was indeed Hab-Ring Five, and he’d been given what passed for an address in this strange environment. Hefting his bag once more, he made his way into the throng, having to dodge and weave between the towering aliens. Many of them barely seemed to register his presence, probably due to his comparatively small stature, though some seemed to stop and stare in confusion.
Well, I suppose Humans are pretty new on the galactic scene, he thought to himself.
The scents of strange, alien food assailed him as he navigated the cramped streets, a few of the criers singling him out. They had sharp instincts, he’d give them that. It seemed the locals could smell a tourist at thirty paces.
Maybe it was all the staring he was doing?
Eventually, he arrived at his destination, glancing up from his display to see a dingy bar. It was open to the street, built into an overhang at the base of one of the many buildings, little more than a long counter with a few stools. Above it was a blinking neon sign in a script that he couldn’t read. As he made his way inside and struggled up onto one of the tall stools, the small handful of patrons who were sitting off to his left paused their conversation to examine him.
They were Nighkru, their goat-like horns and the bruise-purple hue of their skin giving them away. Their silver eyes were striking, almost seeming to glow in the dim light of the bar, as reflective as those of a cat. Their clothing was all tight leather and straps, their skin strategically exposed in places to show off their stunning bioluminescent tattoos, the swirling patterns trailing down slender limbs and across toned midriffs.
He kept his gaze aimed forward, knowing that their kind didn’t think much of the Imperium to which he now belonged.
…Then again, that was true for pretty much every race that wasn’t a part of the massive interstellar empire. Say what you would about the Purps, but they knew how to make an impression.
The bartender walked over to him, leaning on the counter as she looked him up and down skeptically. It was another Rakiri like the dockworkers, her feline nose twitching as she took in his scent.
“You lost, or do you want something to drink?” she asked.
“No thank you, I’m waiting for someone,” he replied sheepishly as he lowered his eyes to his device again.
He was right on time, but as he looked around, there was no sign of his contact. He was supposed to meet them here, right?
The Rakiri shrugged her furry shoulders, then left him to his own devices, moving over to the small group of Nighkru.
Perhaps one of them was his contact?
He certainly hoped not. While he didn’t have anything against a person enjoying themselves with a good drink after hours, it wasn’t a good way to make a positive first impression on a prospective employee.
Fortunately for him, the surprise on one of the trio’s grey skinned faces when she happened to blearily peer in his direction dashed that possibility. Just a trio of young women out for a drink.
Unfortunately for him, after a few hastily whispered words to her friends, the group made their way over to him.
“Don’t see many males round these parts,” one of them said, her faux leather getup creaking as she planted her hands on the bar to his left. Another leaned on the counter to his right, the third posting up behind him.
“A Human, too,” the woman to his right added with a sly chuckle. “Now, what’s a Human doing all alone out on the Periphery?”
“I didn’t think the Purps were letting their pets off the leash.” the one behind him snickered.
“I don’t know,” the first said with an exaggerated shrug. “Maybe he snuck out in search of a real woman? I think we’ve all heard how Humans can be.”
That set the three of them laughing.
All the while, Darren wasn’t sure where to look, turning his head left and right as he struggled to pick a Nighkru. He settled on the woman to his left, having to lift his head to meet her gaze, those reflective eyes shining like a pair of silver coins.
“I...uh...was actually supposed to be meeting someone here.” he stammered, a little of his anxiety bleeding through.
The Nighkru gave him a warm smile that wasn’t reflected in her eyes, leaning a little closer. He tried to pull away reflexively but found another Nighkru waiting for him, something rather soft pressing against his back.
“Well, I don’t see anyone else in here but me and my friends,” one of them said as she tutted dramatically. “Maybe they stood you up?”
“Poor form, that,” the one behind him whispered into his ear. He lurched in his seat, surprised by her proximity. “Leaving a pretty young thing like you hanging.”
The first one nodded, as if that was a piece of sagely wisdom. “I know – how about my friends and I give you a personal tour of the station to make up for it?” she asked, reaching out to brush a piece of errant fluff from his collar. “We’ll even carry your luggage for you – we’re nice like that.”
She signaled to one of her compatriots with a curt nod, who then plucked his travel bag off the deck.
“Oh, that’s really not-”
He tried to stand, but he was cut off as two of the women placed their hands on his shoulders, pushing him back down into his seat. Their touch was gentle, but firm, letting him know that he wasn't going anywhere.
Darren looked to the Rakiri bartender for help, feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the turn of events, but she was staying out of it. She was feigning disinterest, cleaning a glass with a rag that didn’t look clean enough for the job.
It was clear that he wouldn’t be getting any help from her.
Was this really going to be his first experience on the station – kidnapped by a gang of alien grifters?
Just as he was getting ready to – likely ineffectually – start swinging like his life depended on it, he heard a voice ring out in a language he didn’t recognize.
The Nighkru turned their heads as one, and he followed their gaze, seeing another of their kind step in from the street. Her skin had the same twilight hue, her silvery hair pulled back into a long ponytail that trailed behind her as she strode towards them. She wore a jet-black body suit that left little to the imagination, so tight that it might have been sewn onto her, the garment open at the front to expose a chiseled midriff and the beginnings of her cleavage. Her eyes were mesmerizing, his gaze drawn to the glowing tattoos that served to accentuate them.
Oddly, unlike the trio surrounding him, she had no horns.
The stranger walked with purpose, her heels clicking on the deck, her hair swishing behind her as she came to a stop to stare down the three other women. They were already backing off, the Nighkru who had taken his bag setting it back down gingerly beside his seat. Did they know this person? They seemed so wary of her.
“Maybe we’ll see you around,” one of them whispered, her hand lingering on his shoulder for a moment before she followed her friends out into the street.
Once they were finally out of sight, Darren breathed a sigh of relief and turned to thank the newcomer. Before he could utter so much as a word, she beat him to the punch.
“You shouldn’t wander around Halfpoint alone,” she said, skipping the preamble. Her voice had a melodic tone, one that was almost musical to Darren’s ears. She planted her hands on her hips, scrutinizing him with a skeptical expression. “You’re just asking for trouble.”
“I’m just...waiting for someone,” he replied. “Thank you, by the way. I’m-”
“Do you have a weapon on you?” she asked, cutting him off. “A handgun under that jacket? Defense spray? A pocket knife?”
“What? No,” he replied, his brow furrowing. “Why would I have a gun?”
Even with a few inches of titanium-alloy plating between everyone aboard and a messy death by explosive decompression, using a firearm on the station seemed risky.
She snorted derisively, almost as though she couldn’t believe his reply.
“For your sake, I hope that whoever you’re waiting for is smarter than you are,” she said with a roll of her silver eyes. “This isn’t Earth, boy. There are no Shil Marines around to babysit you. Next time you want to play tourist, go somewhere closer to home.”
With a flick of her long hair, she turned about, vanishing into the crowd once more to leave him sitting at the bar in confusion.
Darren felt another hand on his shoulder and turned to see an Edixi wearing grease-stained overalls standing behind him. The tool belt that hung loosely about her hips let him know that she was a mechanic before she’d even had time to open her mouth.
Her kind were evolved for an aquatic environment, and although they were fully amphibious, they retained many of their ancient features. Their bodies were smooth and streamlined, with lean, lightly-muscled frames that made them look like Olympic swimmers. Her eyes were a striking ocean-green, and her azure skin was patterned with faded tiger stripes, darkening as it neared her extremities.
“You’re the new engineer, right?” she chirped excitedly.
“Darren Fogle, pleased to meet you,” he confirmed as he extended a hand. She took it, shaking it eagerly, and he noted that her fingers were webbed.
He was a little surprised by how smooth her skin was. Given the sharklike appearance of the Edixi – and her vocation – he’d expected it to be rough and scaly. Maybe cold and slimy, too. By contrast, it was warm and soft, her small scales smooth like a snake’s rather than sharp like those of a fish.
Odd.
“Oh, it is. It very much is. The boss told me to fetch you,” she said before turning back towards the street. “Don’t get lost, you hear? There are some rough types around these parts.”
Yes, she could say that again. He stooped to pick up his bag, then hurried after her, trying not to lose sight of her in the crowd. He also belatedly realized that she hadn’t told him her own name.
Was that an Edixi thing or was she just in a hurry?
The mechanic led him through the streets, which seemed to be arranged in a kind of grid pattern, always flanked by the towering hab-blocks. It was as challenging as ever to navigate when so many of the station’s inhabitants stood a head taller than him. It made him feel like a bug that was trying to avoid being stepped on.
He could only assume he’d get used to it. His guide seemed to have no problem getting around, and she was a few inches shorter than him.
Their destination was some kind of service elevator – a large platform that seemed designed to carry heavy cargo up from the docks, wide enough that a couple of trucks could have parked on it side by side. There were still a few cargo containers stacked off to one side that hadn’t been unloaded yet.
He watched as the woman hit a touch panel beside the double doors, and they began to slide shut, the platform lurching as Darren felt it start to rise. There was no grinding of machinery, no vibrations, only a sensation of getting heavier. It was obviously gravity-manipulation tech. It wasn’t too surprising – the Shil seemed to use it for just about everything, so it wasn’t too strange that the rest of the universe did as well.
Convergent technological development, he could almost imagine his Shil instructor saying as they started to descend. Good tech is good tech.
The hab-ring’s many levels flashed by one by one, until finally, the elevator slid to a smooth stop. Darren followed the happily humming mechanic out into a garage, his eyes lighting up as he took in his new surroundings.
Were those… mecha?
The bay’s walls were lined with bulky harnesses that were obviously designed to hold the machines in place, a few of the berths already occupied by half-disassembled vehicles.
They were!
“Real life mecha,” he mumbled.
As a mechanic, he wasn’t ignorant of the genre. After all, what kind of engineer didn’t hold a soft spot for giant stompy robots? Of course, as an engineer, he also held an inherent disdain for anyone that actually thought said machines were even remotely practical outside of the realm of fiction.
The Square Cube Law was a harsh mistress.
The long and short of it was that if you doubled a machine's height while keeping it the same shape, you ended up with four times the muscle power moving eight times the mass. As a result, instead of having the same relative agility as the original, the double-sized machine actually had only half.
That was why ants could lift so much relative to their weight. If you scaled one up, you’d end up with a much less impressive power to weight ration.
And, the problem only got worse the bigger you went. Giant robots would be slow, cumbersome, and they would inevitably suffer from exploding ankles if they tried to move too fast. They’d also sink in just about any terrain that was even slightly porous.
All in all, mecha were a cool concept with absolutely zero real world applications.
Which was why he was so stunned to see some in real life. Sure, the Shil military liked to use exos, but they were really just power armor by any other name with thrusters attached. Besides, the only reason those things could skip around like they did was because they had anti-grav generators…
His thoughts trailed off as an idea occurred to him. He jogged over to the nearest machine, peering up at the twenty-foot humanoid monstrosity. Its legs had been detached, leaving only a bulky torso covered in half-stripped sensory equipment, lenses and scanners visible where their protective covers had been removed. The cockpit was open, revealing the pilot’s seat, along with the surrounding neural interface cables that hung loose like the entrails of some mechanical beast. Its weapon attachments were empty, but it was nonetheless an awe-inspiring sight.
Sure enough, there were two oversized humps on the back. One was clearly for the thing’s fusion engine – and the other must have held the anti-grav generator.
“Darren?” the mechanic asked, having only just realized that he wasn’t behind her. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Y-yeah,” he said, jogging for a few paces to catch up. “That’s a mecha!”
The blue-hued alien nodded slowly. “Yes?”
“A mecha,” he reiterated.
Which prompted another slow nod. “You’ve never seen a gladiator mech before?”
“No.”
“Didn’t they tell you what job you’d be doing?” the mechanic asked, cocking her head in a rather adorable manner.
“No?” This time it was his turn to cock his head.
Several emotions seemed to fly across the alien’s face. He saw surprise, confusion, and dismay before she finally settled on irritation.
“Typical,” she grunted. “Just… follow me.”
AN: https://youtu.be/a3Xp1WhRQ9Q

Introduction

I have been using Samsung Galaxy devices for 11 years, with my first Android/Samsung Galaxy device being the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (got the Galaxy Nexus in January of 2012) and with me currently daily driving the S22 Ultra (since May 2022).
I have been using iPhones for more than 12 years, with my first iPhone being the iPhone 4 (got the iPhone 4 in December of 2010) and with me currently daily driving the iPhone 14 Pro Max (since September 2022) and the iPhone SE (2020) as a secondary iPhone for iOS development (since March 2022).
Here is my daily driver history:
Android:

• Samsung Galaxy Nexus (bought in January 2012, traded the phone in October 2013)
• Samsung Galaxy Note3 (bought in October 2013, traded the phone in October 2014)
• Samsung Galaxy Note4 (bought in October 2014, traded the phone in September 2015)
• Samsung Galaxy Note5 (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's son (16M) in August 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy Note7 (bought in August 2016, recalled in October 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (bought in October 2016, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in April 2017 after he broke his iPhone 6 Plus)
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (bought in April 2017, sold to my cousin's son in Vietnam (29M) in April 2018)
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (bought in April 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in March 2019, with him giving me his S7 Edge)
• Samsung Galaxy S10+ (bought in March 2019, gave to my sister (21F) in March 2020 via mail, making the A50 as her secondary phone)
• Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (bought in March 2020, traded the phone in February 2021)
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (bought in February 2021, gave to my sister (21F) in May 2022 via mail due to her cracking her S10+ with the front suffering some cracks, got the S10+ back)
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (bought in May 2022, still using it now)

Primary iPhone:

• iPhone 4 (bought in December 2010, sold to Vietnam's used market in October 2011)
• iPhone 4S (bought in October 2011, traded the phone in September 2012)
• iPhone 5 (bought in September 2012 right after moving to the US, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2013)
• iPhone 5S (bought in September 2013, sold to my cousin (39F) in September 2014)
• iPhone 6 (bought in September 2014, sold the phone on eBay in September 2015)
• iPhone 6S (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's daughter (17F) in October 2016)
• iPhone 7 Plus (bought in September 2016, sold the phone on eBay in November 2017)
• iPhone X (bought in November 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in September 2018)
• iPhone XS Max (bought in September 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in October 2019 with him giving me his iPhone X to help use that towards my iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 11 Pro Max (bought in October 2019, sold to my cousin (53F) in November 2020 with her giving me her iPhone 7 Plus to use as a spare device)
• iPhone 12 Pro Max (bought in November 2020, device started breaking down, so I traded the phone in December 2021, initially planned to keep it for longer)
• iPhone 13 Pro Max (bought in December 2021, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2022 after complaints that her iPhone 11 Pro Max is breaking down, with her giving me her iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 14 Pro Max (bought in September 2022, still using it now)

Secondary iPhone (mostly for iOS app development, listening to music, not including any iPhone/smartphones I bought on eBay for a collection):

• iPhone 5 (September 2015-November 2017): my cousin's husband (55M) upgraded from an iPhone 6 to a Galaxy S6 Edge+ and decided to give his iPhone 6 to my cousin (53F) due to him preferring Android over iOS (he kept the S6 Edge+ until May 2020 when he bought the S20+ and then he gave his S6 Edge+ to me in May 2020 via mail, but between 2017-2020, this acted as his 2nd phone as he was daily driving the iPhone X/XS Max mentioned above)
• iPhone 6S (November 2017-November 2020): my cousin's daughter (17F) upgraded from the 6S to the 7 Plus, along with both her parents (55M, 53F) not only due to the family switching from T-mobile to Verizon but also due to her cracking my old iPhone 6S, which caused her parents not only to replace the screen but also the battery)
• iPhone 7 Plus (November 2020-March 2022): my cousin (53F) received my iPhone 11 Pro Max, but since the iPhone 6S fell off my bike mount a month before, it cracked, and since the battery is so horrendous on the 6S, my cousin (53F) decided to give me her iPhone 7 Plus and I decided to take the 6S to the Apple Store in Cambridge MA to recycle it
• iPhone SE (2020) (since March 2022): Even though my cousin, and later I took very good care of the iPhone 7 Plus, the phone started breaking down on several fronts: the silent switch, charging port pins, and even battery started to die hard, and plus, since the phone is getting unsupported, I started deciding on the iPhone SE. After finding out the iPhone SE 3 was $429 and finding out I could get a prepaid iPhone SE 2 on AT&T for $150 ($50 plan+$15 activation fee but I cancelled auto pay immediately after buying the phone), I got the brand-new SE 2 instead. Nowadays, the battery started to fall apart (even though the battery is currently at 93% capacity) and even though this phone is not in a beta, there are a lot of bugs even on 16.3.1 (I am thinking of updating to 16.4 tonight)

Things my Samsung Galaxy does better than my iPhone

There are many things that Samsung Galaxy phones and other Android phones do better than iPhones, including the fact that on Android:

• notifications are not cluttered in the lock-screen unlike on iOS
• Android is more customisable than iOS and Android is an open-source mobile operating system
• Many new features such as reverse wireless charging, in screen fingerprints, foldable phones, 5G, triple camera setup, phablet size phones,
• there is a real back button on Android
• No need to use iTunes; you could just transfer music and photos/videos between your computer and phone without the hassle of iTunes
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones (S1-S20 excluding the S6/Note5) have microSD and older Samsung Galaxy phones have removable batteries
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones in certain markets have dual sim support, but since e-SIM was introduced, first with the Pixel 2, and later with the iPhone XS, dual sim is less of an advantage
• There are a lot of options, including the M/J series for budget conscious buyers, the A series for the average folk in many countries, the S/Note series for power-users, business users for extra productivity (mostly the Note series) and phone enthusiasts (like me), and the Z series for certain business users for extra productivity and for Flexers
• On my Samsung Galaxy devices, I could share the Wi-Fi password to other phones using the QR code; on iPhones, I could only share the Wi-Fi connection with other iPhones
• Samsung Galaxy devices support split screen view and pop up view, but these two features are restricted to the iPad, and iPhones only support picture in picture video

However, there are many lesser-known things that my Samsung Galaxy phones do better than my iPhones (based on my experience over the past 11 years), and some might be controversial:

• iPhone batteries start to massively degrade after a new iPhone and iOS version comes out

Even though the iPhone batteries are mostly very good during the first year of usage and have extremely good standby compared to Android phones due to software optimisation, by around July 2016, my iPhone 6S's battery is starting to fail, and I did need to rely on battery packs for my iPhones to survive as the iPhone 6S's battery would go from 100-0 after 4-6 hours of heavy use. My cousins did replace the iPhone 6S battery in October of 2017, but by October 2020 (please note according to battery health, IIRC, the 6S stands at 85%), on iOS 14, the iPhone 6S would drain from 90 to 35 in as little as 10 minutes and sometimes, during cold weather, the iPhone 6S's battery (on iOS 14) would die at 30%. Turns out this is not only an issue on my 6S as I bought a 6S on eBay in 2021 for my smartphone collection and that phone (with 80% capacity) also behaved the same, draining from 80 to 25 in around 10 minutes. The iPhones before the 6S also had a poor battery life after a year in my experience, and even though the iPhone 7 Plus, X, XS Max, and 11 Pro Max's battery holds better than the 6S due to the batteries being bigger, the batteries still started to become bad after 1-2 years.
My iPhone 12 Pro Max (I got rid of it in December of 2021 after it accidentally fell out from my nightstand drawer and the back cracked a month before) started seeing its battery fail sometime in September 2021, when the 13 Pro Max came out. Say I leave the house at 10:00 and were to return home at 19:00. By 17:00, with medium usage + hotspot, the iPhone's battery would have depleted to around 20 percent. Plus, my iPhones typically consume more battery if devices are connected to hotspot than my Samsung Galaxies are.
Also, I did receive the Galaxy S7 Edge (2019), Samsung Galaxy S9+ (earlier this month as my cousin's husband upgraded to the S23+), and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (last year), and given that I would sell these phones on the second hand market, I would test the phones for a week or two to see the phone's condition before assessing it and selling it on the second hand market. What I found is that even though the S10+ cracked and therefore, I donated it rather than sold it, all three phones seem to have solid battery, considering their ages. The S7 Edge with its 3600 mAh battery under heavy use after 3 years would go about for 6-8 hours before needing a recharge, and my S9+ would go about for around 5-6 hours as well before hitting down to 20% of battery (that is after 5 years and given the fact my cousin's husband is a power user), and even though the S10 cracked, it would go for 8-10 hours under heavy usage before draining to around 20%. I also got back my Note5 from 2015 once my cousin's son upgraded to my cousin (50M)'s S8 Active in 2019 once my cousin upgraded to the Note10+, and even on that phone, the battery is still very good considering its age and its 3000 mAh size, doing around 4-6 hours going down from 100-20.

• My Samsung devices have proven more reliable as a whole than many of my iPhones

Even though all the 4 Samsung Galaxy S phones I have repossessed were slightly slow compared to when they were first purchased, all of them, apart from the front cracks on the S10+, are still highly reliable, and according to my usage as well as from the 4 people who have used my phones, they have commented that the phones I gave to them gave them minimal issues and they JUST WORK. Fun fact: during my ownership, I have never experienced any major problems with any of my Samsung phones.
Fun fact, my cousin (28M) switched from the iPhone 7 Plus to the Samsung Galaxy S10+ in March of 2019 and is now currently using a Galaxy S23 Ultra. From his 4-year long experience using just the Galaxy S10+ (he bought the ceramic colour with 512GB of storage and currently his father is using the S10+), even though he is a power user with him customising the phone with themes, being a heavy user, and having cracked his S10+ last year, the phone was still extremely reliable, working fully as intended, apart from the battery, which has been shortened to 6 hours of heavy usage before dying.
My iPhones however, were not so bright. Even though pre-2015 iPhones are mostly reliable during my time using it, since the 6S, there have been some phones which have showed issues here and there, sometimes within the first year of ownership. As for the iPhone 6S, it is basically only the battery, which has been extremely bad after a year and the fact it would sometimes shut off at 30% during cold weather.
Starting with the iPhone 7 Plus however, and there started to be a lot of problems. Even though my iPhone 7 Plus didn't show any problems during my ownership, even though my cousin took good care of the 7 Plus, when I got her 7 Plus in November of 2020 (she got the phone brand new at Verizon in November 2017), the silent switch started to wear down and get stuck, meaning it is hard to turn on silent switch, the charging port pins started to wear, making it very hard to charge the phone or connect the phone to the computer, and the battery started to struggle real hard.
Starting with the iPhone XS Max and there started to be real struggles. Even though I didn't see any problems with either the iPhone XS Max and 11 Pro Max during my ownership and took good care of these two phones, when these two phones got passed to their second owners, problems started to arise. For the XS Max, in May of 2020, it got bricked, and it wouldn't turn on even if he plugged it in the charging cable or through iTunes, and my cousin's husband had to bring it to service, and that got him to purchase an S20+ given he prefers Android over iOS, and after fixing the XS Max, he gave it to his daughter (17F), who is his only child. For the 11 Pro Max however, the phone's battery drained fast and my cousin always had to rely on the charger, and plus, there are issues of connecting Bluetooth devices as well as with calls and volume whilst connected to Bluetooth devices, and my cousin always complained about these issues and even though I did attempt to fix, the issues didn't get resolved (I am tech savvy by the way, so I could get through a lot of issues, such as reset my bricked iPad using iTunes, etc.).
And now onto my iPad Pro 9.7. I bought the iPad in June of 2016, and even though I used it mostly for watching YouTube videos, Udemy and edX courses, the iPad started having a bricking issue in November of 2017. What happened was that I was charging and overnight, the iPad just shut itself off and never powered on again. I tried connecting it to iTunes and even though iTunes could recognise the device, whenever I reset it, errors keep on popping up and it is impossible to reset. I tried bringing it to the Apple Store, but they couldn't reset it either and they suggested that I replace the iPad Pro 9.7 with an iPad Mini 4 for $300. Then, I started taking matters into my own hands and finally resetted the iPad Pro successfully after multiple attempts in January of 2018. Four months later (in May 2018), the iPad bricked again, and I had to do the same process, and it took until August of 2018 after at least 5-10 tries for it to work again. And then in August 2020, whilst charging overnight, the iPad turned off and I thought it was toast. Turned out it was, as after countless times diagnosing the issues on iTunes, the iPad would keep on bricking after multiple reset attempts and after more than 2 years. Then, there was a miracle. In November of 2022, I finally got my iPad working again and I felt like I was very lucky, because I thought that the iPad was bricked forever and wouldn't go back on, ever.
Then, finally, it is my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I bought the phone on 20 November 2020, and by mid-September 2021, things started to go south for this phone. The top speaker started to fail and even though I cleaned it, the speaker was so muffled that I could barely hear anything from the top speaker. I brought it to the Apple Store and they said it is a digitiser issue and they couldn't even clean it for me, and around that same time, the touchscreen started to act up. With a lot of ghost touches, it started to become very hard to use the iPhone (and keep in mind, I have never replaced the screen since I never cracked the front screen). In October 2021, the phone started to have lose cellular signal when I enter the MBTA train and still didn't recognise cellular signal for minutes after I exited the MBTA and was at least a mile from that station on my bike, but luckily, resetting network settings did fix the issue with the cellular signal however. By the time the phone accidentally fell to the ground and the back did suffer some cracks in November, I started to give up on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and in December, I upgraded to the 13 Pro Max.
Even though my Galaxy Buds and my cousin (28M)'s Galaxy Buds did not show any issues (he bought the Galaxy Buds in March 2019 and after heavy usage, it still held up very well and he even gave it to his father), all 4 of my AirPods, even the AirPods Pro 2, have shown issues here and there. My first AirPods (January 2017-July 2018) basically stopped working, and hence, I bought another pair of AirPods in July 2018 and used it until February 2022, when I dropped it in the toilet. Even though I was using the 2nd pair of AirPods half the time (July 2018-January 2020, December 2020-April 2021, November 2021-February 2022), by late 2021, the AirPods started showing major problems. First off, the battery drains so fast even indoors that it only lasted about an hour. Then, once I am outside, the right side would disconnect after only 5 minutes of usage and the left side would keep soldering on. Once it fell to the toilet, it was game over (however, I still kept the AirPods, it is just in the nightstand sitting there, and I did clean it as well). I bought the AirPods 2 in February 2022, and after 2 months, at least once every week or two, the right side would discharge, even in the case (the case is clean by the way), until it went out of battery. I tried resetting the case and putting the case to charge again, but to no avail, and it took several reset attempts for it to return to normal. The same exact scenario happened to the AirPods Pro 2, which I got in October as my cousin wanted to gift me the AirPods Pro 2, in exchange for my AirPods 2. Except that sometimes, my iPhone 14 Pro Max couldn't even connect to the AirPods Pro 2 or even recognise it.

• Hotspot doesn't always work on my iPhones, but always does on my Galaxy

I currently have two phone plans: my main Verizon phone plan with my iPhone 14 Pro Max and my secondary MetroPCS phone plan with my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. I do carry a third phone with me (without a phone plan), which is the iPhone SE 2020. Due to me not having a phone plan on my iPhone SE 2020, I do have to rely on hotspot when I am outside. For my iPhone SE 2020, I primarily use it for music streaming and to test my mobile applications, whilst my two other phones are used for more intense purposes, with me spending the most time on my Samsung.
For my iPhone 14 Pro Max and previous iPhones (iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max, etc), personal hotspot is very buggy. My Samsung connects just fine to the iPhone hotspot, but my iPhones don't. To preserve the battery, after several minutes, the iPhone SE would get disconnected from the iPhone 14 Pro Max hotspot (which is acceptable), but it gets worse. Even if I am currently streaming Apple Music on my iPhone SE with the screen on as well, the iPhone would disconnect from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and it is very hard to connect it to hotspot. Sometimes, the iPhone SE would say 'Unable to join network' and others, it said 'Personal Hotspot Failure', which would force me to restart both the iPhone SE and 14 Pro Max. Now the Remote Hotspot Failure started happening since I got the 11 Pro Max in 2019, and at the time, my 16:9 phone was the iPhone 6S, and even then, there were hotspot failure problems. I restarted the 11 Pro Max, but the hotspot failure would return after a week or two. Even after resetting network settings in 2021 right before my 13 Pro Max because my iPhone 12 Pro Max would lose cellular connectivity even after I exited the MBTA tunnel and I am outside a mile from the MBTA station, once I got my 13 Pro Max, the remote hotspot failure still appears. My Samsung Galaxy over the years connects to the iPhone hotspot without any issues, and would stay connected even if I am not using the phone until I basically turn off hotspot on my iPhone.
Now due to the fact connecting my iPhone SE to the iPhone hotspot is so bad, I would typically use the Samsung hotspot as a backup (keep in mind my iPhone plan gives unlimited hotspot whilst Metro only gives 5 GB). Both iPhones connect to the Samsung hotspot flawlessly, without any issues.

• On my Samsung Galaxy phones, I can disable Wi-Fi using the Quick Settings (swipe down) menu, but for iPhones, it is less consistent

Sometimes, I don't want my main iPhone 14 Pro Max to connect to the Samsung hotspot due to it having its own data. I would turn off Wi-Fi on the control centre and after 5-10 minutes, it would reconnect the Wi-Fi, therefore wasting hotspot data on my Samsung metroPCS plan and making me mildly angry. iPhone does say turning off until tomorrow but in reality, Wi-Fi is turned on after 5-10 minutes. For Samsung, I turn off Wi-Fi on the quick settings until I turn it back on or I flick on airplane mode, which seems more intuitive in my case. However, when I am at home without any hotspot devices, whenever I use quick settings for iPhone, nearby Wi-Fi does disconnect until tomorrow

• Connecting to Bluetooth devices is better on my Samsung Galaxy phones than my iPhones

Pretend I have two Bluetooth devices (AirPods Pro, JBL Clip 4), and I wanted to connect to the JBL speaker. On the Samsung, if I accidentally clicked on the AirPods Pro, I could click JBL Clip 4 immediately and within 5 seconds, I would be connected to the JBL Clip 4 speaker. For the iPhone however, things are not so bright, as if I were to accidentally click the AirPods Pro, I had to wait 15 seconds for Apple to search for the AirPods Pro, and then once it says it couldn't find the AirPods Pro because I left my AirPods Pro at home, that is when I could click on JBL Clip 4 and connect it. That turns a 5 second process into something like a 15-20 second process.

• Apple Pay sometimes doesn't work on my iPhone

On several occasions since 2021, my iPhones would sometimes not pay using Apple Pay and would fail to pay. Sometimes, the iPhone couldn't even detect a reader even though the reader does work. Once I use Samsung Pay on my Samsung Galaxy devices as a backup, the payment did go through and it finally worked.
Yesterday, I was at the MBTA station, and I was attempting to pay for the Monthly pass. Ironically, even though the reader did work, the iPhone 14 Pro Max kept on saying 'Hold near Reader', and even though I held it near the mobile payment reader for 10-15 seconds, it still didn't do anything. Fed up, after the second time, I repaid the MBTA ticket and used my S22 Ultra and the payment did go through. However, at the restaurant around 1 hour later, even though I didn't restart the iPhone, Apple Pay finally worked again as I was able to pay my meal using Apple Pay.

• Automatic updates are better on my Galaxies than my iPhones

My Samsung automatic updates are set overnight, and even with airplane mode turned on during the night, my Samsungs are always up to date without ever having to go to the settings app to update the firmware to Android 13. As for iPhone, they did schedule automatic updates between 4-5 am, but in reality, automatic updates keep failing even with Wi-Fi turned on overnight. If I wanted to update my iPhones, I would typically have to manually update via settings

• Wi-Fi is far better on my Samsung Galaxy/Android phones than my iPhones, iPads, or Macs

I attended university between 2018 and 2022, and in late 2021, at university (I majored in CS by the way), my iPhones, iPads, and Macs would often struggle with Wi-Fi. My iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 7 Plus (as of November 2021) would sometimes even outright refuse to connect to Wi-Fi and same goes with the MacBook 15' Core i9 (2019) (I have since upgraded to the M1 MBP 16 since the logic board on the MBP 2019 failed in November 2021), and if connected, at some parts of the university, they are extremely slow, and sometimes, borderline unusable. My S21 Ultra however, at the same place, worked far better and was able to load websites. Even my Windows laptop was able to load websites as well as my Galaxy A51 (I brought an A51 one day to MIT to see if the Wi-Fi issues only occurred on Apple products).
Fun fact: the Galaxy S21 Ultra was the first phone to offer Wi-Fi 6E and not even the iPhone 14 Pro Max supports this feature
Then in July 2022, during a flight from Dallas back to Boston, my iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone SE 2 would fail to connect to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network several times and if connected, the Wi-Fi was painfully slow and near unusable whilst my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra connected to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network just fine and worked as expected, with websites loading reasonably quick, just like at my university with the S21 Ultra.

• USB C lasts longer than lightning connector

Finally, one thing Samsung and Android OEMs do better than Apple is the fact that many Android devices, including Samsung Galaxy devices, come with USB-C which is the future compared to Apple's ancient lightning connector (frankly, Apple now uses USB-C on most of their iPads except for the entry level iPad 9). It allows for faster charging and transfer speeds and USB-C is basically superior to lightning, which is a relic from a bygone era. Plus, USB-C seems to last longer. Whilst my lightning connectors generally worn out between 6-18 months before having inconsistent connections or connectivity issues, my USB-C connectors would keep soldering on for at least 5 years before breaking down like the lightning connectors.
TL;DR: Even though there are many benefits to owning an iPhone over an Android device, based on my user experience, after over 11 years of using various Samsung Galaxy phones, two Samsung Galaxy Tabs, and one Galaxy Bud and after over 12 years of using various iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and AirPods, I could safely assure that there are a lot of benefits to using Samsung and Android products over iPhones, namely due to the fact that notifications, customisation, features, options, Wi-Fi, multitasking, batteries, hotspot, Bluetooth, mobile payment, etc., are better on Samsung and Android products than on iPhones, based on my user experience.

Introduction

I have been using Samsung Galaxy devices for 11 years, with my first Android/Samsung Galaxy device being the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (got the Galaxy Nexus in January of 2012) and with me currently daily driving the S22 Ultra (since May 2022).
I have been using iPhones for more than 12 years, with my first iPhone being the iPhone 4 (got the iPhone 4 in December of 2010) and with me currently daily driving the iPhone 14 Pro Max (since September 2022) and the iPhone SE (2020) as a secondary iPhone for iOS development (since March 2022).
Here is my daily driver history:
Android:

• Samsung Galaxy Nexus (bought in January 2012, traded the phone in October 2013)
• Samsung Galaxy Note3 (bought in October 2013, traded the phone in October 2014)
• Samsung Galaxy Note4 (bought in October 2014, traded the phone in September 2015)
• Samsung Galaxy Note5 (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's son (16M) in August 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy Note7 (bought in August 2016, recalled in October 2016)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (bought in October 2016, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in April 2017 after he broke his iPhone 6 Plus)
• Samsung Galaxy S8+ (bought in April 2017, sold to my cousin's son in Vietnam (29M) in April 2018)
• Samsung Galaxy S9+ (bought in April 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (40M) in March 2019, with him giving me his S7 Edge)
• Samsung Galaxy S10+ (bought in March 2019, gave to my sister (21F) in March 2020 via mail, making the A50 as her secondary phone)
• Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra (bought in March 2020, traded the phone in February 2021)
• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (bought in February 2021, gave to my sister (21F) in May 2022 via mail due to her cracking her S10+ with the front suffering some cracks, got the S10+ back)
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (bought in May 2022, still using it now)

Primary iPhone:

• iPhone 4 (bought in December 2010, sold to Vietnam's used market in October 2011)
• iPhone 4S (bought in October 2011, traded the phone in September 2012)
• iPhone 5 (bought in September 2012 right after moving to the US, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2013)
• iPhone 5S (bought in September 2013, sold to my cousin (39F) in September 2014)
• iPhone 6 (bought in September 2014, sold the phone on eBay in September 2015)
• iPhone 6S (bought in September 2015, sold to my cousin's daughter (17F) in October 2016)
• iPhone 7 Plus (bought in September 2016, sold the phone on eBay in November 2017)
• iPhone X (bought in November 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in September 2018)
• iPhone XS Max (bought in September 2018, sold to my cousin's husband (55M) in October 2019 with him giving me his iPhone X to help use that towards my iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 11 Pro Max (bought in October 2019, sold to my cousin (53F) in November 2020 with her giving me her iPhone 7 Plus to use as a spare device)
• iPhone 12 Pro Max (bought in November 2020, device started breaking down, so I traded the phone in December 2021, initially planned to keep it for longer)
• iPhone 13 Pro Max (bought in December 2021, sold to my cousin (53F) in September 2022 after complaints that her iPhone 11 Pro Max is breaking down, with her giving me her iPhone 11 Pro Max)
• iPhone 14 Pro Max (bought in September 2022, still using it now)

Secondary iPhone (mostly for iOS app development, listening to music, not including any iPhone/smartphones I bought on eBay for a collection):

• iPhone 5 (September 2015-November 2017): my cousin's husband (55M) upgraded from an iPhone 6 to a Galaxy S6 Edge+ and decided to give his iPhone 6 to my cousin (53F) due to him preferring Android over iOS (he kept the S6 Edge+ until May 2020 when he bought the S20+ and then he gave his S6 Edge+ to me in May 2020 via mail, but between 2017-2020, this acted as his 2nd phone as he was daily driving the iPhone X/XS Max mentioned above)
• iPhone 6S (November 2017-November 2020): my cousin's daughter (17F) upgraded from the 6S to the 7 Plus, along with both her parents (55M, 53F) not only due to the family switching from T-mobile to Verizon but also due to her cracking my old iPhone 6S, which caused her parents not only to replace the screen but also the battery)
• iPhone 7 Plus (November 2020-March 2022): my cousin (53F) received my iPhone 11 Pro Max, but since the iPhone 6S fell off my bike mount a month before, it cracked, and since the battery is so horrendous on the 6S, my cousin (53F) decided to give me her iPhone 7 Plus and I decided to take the 6S to the Apple Store in Cambridge MA to recycle it
• iPhone SE (2020) (since March 2022): Even though my cousin, and later I took very good care of the iPhone 7 Plus, the phone started breaking down on several fronts: the silent switch, charging port pins, and even battery started to die hard, and plus, since the phone is getting unsupported, I started deciding on the iPhone SE. After finding out the iPhone SE 3 was $429 and finding out I could get a prepaid iPhone SE 2 on AT&T for $150 ($50 plan+$15 activation fee but I cancelled auto pay immediately after buying the phone), I got the brand-new SE 2 instead. Nowadays, the battery started to fall apart (even though the battery is currently at 93% capacity) and even though this phone is not in a beta, there are a lot of bugs even on 16.3.1 (I am thinking of updating to 16.4 tonight)

Things my Samsung Galaxy does better than my iPhone

There are many things that Samsung Galaxy phones and other Android phones do better than iPhones, including the fact that on Android:

• notifications are not cluttered in the lock-screen unlike on iOS
• Android is more customisable than iOS and Android is an open-source mobile operating system
• Many new features such as reverse wireless charging, in screen fingerprints, foldable phones, 5G, triple camera setup, phablet size phones,
• there is a real back button on Android
• No need to use iTunes; you could just transfer music and photos/videos between your computer and phone without the hassle of iTunes
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones (S1-S20 excluding the S6/Note5) have microSD and older Samsung Galaxy phones have removable batteries
• Some Samsung Galaxy phones in certain markets have dual sim support, but since e-SIM was introduced, first with the Pixel 2, and later with the iPhone XS, dual sim is less of an advantage
• There are a lot of options, including the M/J series for budget conscious buyers, the A series for the average folk in many countries, the S/Note series for power-users, business users for extra productivity (mostly the Note series) and phone enthusiasts (like me), and the Z series for certain business users for extra productivity and for Flexers
• On my Samsung Galaxy devices, I could share the Wi-Fi password to other phones using the QR code; on iPhones, I could only share the Wi-Fi connection with other iPhones
• Samsung Galaxy devices support split screen view and pop up view, but these two features are restricted to the iPad, and iPhones only support picture in picture video

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However, there are many lesser-known things that my Samsung Galaxy phones do better than my iPhones (based on my experience over the past 11 years), and some might be controversial:
​

• iPhone batteries start to massively degrade after a new iPhone and iOS version comes out

Even though the iPhone batteries are mostly very good during the first year of usage and have extremely good standby compared to Android phones due to software optimisation, by around July 2016, my iPhone 6S's battery is starting to fail, and I did need to rely on battery packs for my iPhones to survive as the iPhone 6S's battery would go from 100-0 after 4-6 hours of heavy use. My cousins did replace the iPhone 6S battery in October of 2017, but by October 2020 (please note according to battery health, IIRC, the 6S stands at 85%), on iOS 14, the iPhone 6S would drain from 90 to 35 in as little as 10 minutes and sometimes, during cold weather, the iPhone 6S's battery (on iOS 14) would die at 30%. Turns out this is not only an issue on my 6S as I bought a 6S on eBay in 2021 for my smartphone collection and that phone (with 80% capacity) also behaved the same, draining from 80 to 25 in around 10 minutes. The iPhones before the 6S also had a poor battery life after a year in my experience, and even though the iPhone 7 Plus, X, XS Max, and 11 Pro Max's battery holds better than the 6S due to the batteries being bigger, the batteries still started to become bad after 1-2 years.
My iPhone 12 Pro Max (I got rid of it in December of 2021 after it accidentally fell out from my nightstand drawer and the back cracked a month before) started seeing its battery fail sometime in September 2021, when the 13 Pro Max came out. Say I leave the house at 10:00 and were to return home at 19:00. By 17:00, with medium usage + hotspot, the iPhone's battery would have depleted to around 20 percent. Plus, my iPhones typically consume more battery if devices are connected to hotspot than my Samsung Galaxies are.
Also, I did receive the Galaxy S7 Edge (2019), Samsung Galaxy S9+ (earlier this month as my cousin's husband upgraded to the S23+), and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ (last year), and given that I would sell these phones on the second hand market, I would test the phones for a week or two to see the phone's condition before assessing it and selling it on the second hand market. What I found is that even though the S10+ cracked and therefore, I donated it rather than sold it, all three phones seem to have solid battery, considering their ages. The S7 Edge with its 3600 mAh battery under heavy use after 3 years would go about for 6-8 hours before needing a recharge, and my S9+ would go about for around 5-6 hours as well before hitting down to 20% of battery (that is after 5 years and given the fact my cousin's husband is a power user), and even though the S10 cracked, it would go for 8-10 hours under heavy usage before draining to around 20%. I also got back my Note5 from 2015 once my cousin's son upgraded to my cousin (50M)'s S8 Active in 2019 once my cousin upgraded to the Note10+, and even on that phone, the battery is still very good considering its age and its 3000 mAh size, doing around 4-6 hours going down from 100-20.
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• My Samsung devices have proven more reliable as a whole than many of my iPhones

Even though all the 4 Samsung Galaxy S phones I have repossessed were slightly slow compared to when they were first purchased, all of them, apart from the front cracks on the S10+, are still highly reliable, and according to my usage as well as from the 4 people who have used my phones, they have commented that the phones I gave to them gave them minimal issues and they JUST WORK. Fun fact: during my ownership, I have never experienced any major problems with any of my Samsung phones.
Fun fact, my cousin (28M) switched from the iPhone 7 Plus to the Samsung Galaxy S10+ in March of 2019 and is now currently using a Galaxy S23 Ultra. From his 4-year long experience using just the Galaxy S10+ (he bought the ceramic colour with 512GB of storage and currently his father is using the S10+), even though he is a power user with him customising the phone with themes, being a heavy user, and having cracked his S10+ last year, the phone was still extremely reliable, working fully as intended, apart from the battery, which has been shortened to 6 hours of heavy usage before dying.
My iPhones however, were not so bright. Even though pre-2015 iPhones are mostly reliable during my time using it, since the 6S, there have been some phones which have showed issues here and there, sometimes within the first year of ownership. As for the iPhone 6S, it is basically only the battery, which has been extremely bad after a year and the fact it would sometimes shut off at 30% during cold weather.
Starting with the iPhone 7 Plus however, and there started to be a lot of problems. Even though my iPhone 7 Plus didn't show any problems during my ownership, even though my cousin took good care of the 7 Plus, when I got her 7 Plus in November of 2020 (she got the phone brand new at Verizon in November 2017), the silent switch started to wear down and get stuck, meaning it is hard to turn on silent switch, the charging port pins started to wear, making it very hard to charge the phone or connect the phone to the computer, and the battery started to struggle real hard.
Starting with the iPhone XS Max and there started to be real struggles. Even though I didn't see any problems with either the iPhone XS Max and 11 Pro Max during my ownership and took good care of these two phones, when these two phones got passed to their second owners, problems started to arise. For the XS Max, in May of 2020, it got bricked, and it wouldn't turn on even if he plugged it in the charging cable or through iTunes, and my cousin's husband had to bring it to service, and that got him to purchase an S20+ given he prefers Android over iOS, and after fixing the XS Max, he gave it to his daughter (17F), who is his only child. For the 11 Pro Max however, the phone's battery drained fast and my cousin always had to rely on the charger, and plus, there are issues of connecting Bluetooth devices as well as with calls and volume whilst connected to Bluetooth devices, and my cousin always complained about these issues and even though I did attempt to fix, the issues didn't get resolved (I am tech savvy by the way, so I could get through a lot of issues, such as reset my bricked iPad using iTunes, etc.).
And now onto my iPad Pro 9.7. I bought the iPad in June of 2016, and even though I used it mostly for watching YouTube videos, Udemy and edX courses, the iPad started having a bricking issue in November of 2017. What happened was that I was charging and overnight, the iPad just shut itself off and never powered on again. I tried connecting it to iTunes and even though iTunes could recognise the device, whenever I reset it, errors keep on popping up and it is impossible to reset. I tried bringing it to the Apple Store, but they couldn't reset it either and they suggested that I replace the iPad Pro 9.7 with an iPad Mini 4 for $300. Then, I started taking matters into my own hands and finally resetted the iPad Pro successfully after multiple attempts in January of 2018. Four months later (in May 2018), the iPad bricked again, and I had to do the same process, and it took until August of 2018 after at least 5-10 tries for it to work again. And then in August 2020, whilst charging overnight, the iPad turned off and I thought it was toast. Turned out it was, as after countless times diagnosing the issues on iTunes, the iPad would keep on bricking after multiple reset attempts and after more than 2 years. Then, there was a miracle. In November of 2022, I finally got my iPad working again and I felt like I was very lucky, because I thought that the iPad was bricked forever and wouldn't go back on, ever.
Then, finally, it is my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I bought the phone on 20 November 2020, and by mid-September 2021, things started to go south for this phone. The top speaker started to fail and even though I cleaned it, the speaker was so muffled that I could barely hear anything from the top speaker. I brought it to the Apple Store and they said it is a digitiser issue and they couldn't even clean it for me, and around that same time, the touchscreen started to act up. With a lot of ghost touches, it started to become very hard to use the iPhone (and keep in mind, I have never replaced the screen since I never cracked the front screen). In October 2021, the phone started to have lose cellular signal when I enter the MBTA train and still didn't recognise cellular signal for minutes after I exited the MBTA and was at least a mile from that station on my bike, but luckily, resetting network settings did fix the issue with the cellular signal however. By the time the phone accidentally fell to the ground and the back did suffer some cracks in November, I started to give up on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and in December, I upgraded to the 13 Pro Max.
Even though my Galaxy Buds and my cousin (28M)'s Galaxy Buds did not show any issues (he bought the Galaxy Buds in March 2019 and after heavy usage, it still held up very well and he even gave it to his father), all 4 of my AirPods, even the AirPods Pro 2, have shown issues here and there. My first AirPods (January 2017-July 2018) basically stopped working, and hence, I bought another pair of AirPods in July 2018 and used it until February 2022, when I dropped it in the toilet. Even though I was using the 2nd pair of AirPods half the time (July 2018-January 2020, December 2020-April 2021, November 2021-February 2022), by late 2021, the AirPods started showing major problems. First off, the battery drains so fast even indoors that it only lasted about an hour. Then, once I am outside, the right side would disconnect after only 5 minutes of usage and the left side would keep soldering on. Once it fell to the toilet, it was game over (however, I still kept the AirPods, it is just in the nightstand sitting there, and I did clean it as well). I bought the AirPods 2 in February 2022, and after 2 months, at least once every week or two, the right side would discharge, even in the case (the case is clean by the way), until it went out of battery. I tried resetting the case and putting the case to charge again, but to no avail, and it took several reset attempts for it to return to normal. The same exact scenario happened to the AirPods Pro 2, which I got in October as my cousin wanted to gift me the AirPods Pro 2, in exchange for my AirPods 2. Except that sometimes, my iPhone 14 Pro Max couldn't even connect to the AirPods Pro 2 or even recognise it.
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• Hotspot doesn't always work on my iPhones, but always does on my Galaxy

I currently have two phone plans: my main Verizon phone plan with my iPhone 14 Pro Max and my secondary MetroPCS phone plan with my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. I do carry a third phone with me (without a phone plan), which is the iPhone SE 2020. Due to me not having a phone plan on my iPhone SE 2020, I do have to rely on hotspot when I am outside. For my iPhone SE 2020, I primarily use it for music streaming and to test my mobile applications, whilst my two other phones are used for more intense purposes, with me spending the most time on my Samsung.
For my iPhone 14 Pro Max and previous iPhones (iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12 Pro Max, etc), personal hotspot is very buggy. My Samsung connects just fine to the iPhone hotspot, but my iPhones don't. To preserve the battery, after several minutes, the iPhone SE would get disconnected from the iPhone 14 Pro Max hotspot (which is acceptable), but it gets worse. Even if I am currently streaming Apple Music on my iPhone SE with the screen on as well, the iPhone would disconnect from the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and it is very hard to connect it to hotspot. Sometimes, the iPhone SE would say 'Unable to join network' and others, it said 'Personal Hotspot Failure', which would force me to restart both the iPhone SE and 14 Pro Max. Now the Remote Hotspot Failure started happening since I got the 11 Pro Max in 2019, and at the time, my 16:9 phone was the iPhone 6S, and even then, there were hotspot failure problems. I restarted the 11 Pro Max, but the hotspot failure would return after a week or two. Even after resetting network settings in 2021 right before my 13 Pro Max because my iPhone 12 Pro Max would lose cellular connectivity even after I exited the MBTA tunnel and I am outside a mile from the MBTA station, once I got my 13 Pro Max, the remote hotspot failure still appears. My Samsung Galaxy over the years connects to the iPhone hotspot without any issues, and would stay connected even if I am not using the phone until I basically turn off hotspot on my iPhone.
Now due to the fact connecting my iPhone SE to the iPhone hotspot is so bad, I would typically use the Samsung hotspot as a backup (keep in mind my iPhone plan gives unlimited hotspot whilst Metro only gives 5 GB). Both iPhones connect to the Samsung hotspot flawlessly, without any issues.
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• On my Samsung Galaxy phones, I can disable Wi-Fi using the Quick Settings (swipe down) menu, but for iPhones, it is less consistent

Sometimes, I don't want my main iPhone 14 Pro Max to connect to the Samsung hotspot due to it having its own data. I would turn off Wi-Fi on the control centre and after 5-10 minutes, it would reconnect the Wi-Fi, therefore wasting hotspot data on my Samsung metroPCS plan and making me mildly angry. iPhone does say turning off until tomorrow but in reality, Wi-Fi is turned on after 5-10 minutes. For Samsung, I turn off Wi-Fi on the quick settings until I turn it back on or I flick on airplane mode, which seems more intuitive in my case. However, when I am at home without any hotspot devices, whenever I use quick settings for iPhone, nearby Wi-Fi does disconnect until tomorrow
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• Connecting to Bluetooth devices is better on my Samsung Galaxy phones than my iPhones

Pretend I have two Bluetooth devices (AirPods Pro, JBL Clip 4), and I wanted to connect to the JBL speaker. On the Samsung, if I accidentally clicked on the AirPods Pro, I could click JBL Clip 4 immediately and within 5 seconds, I would be connected to the JBL Clip 4 speaker. For the iPhone however, things are not so bright, as if I were to accidentally click the AirPods Pro, I had to wait 15 seconds for Apple to search for the AirPods Pro, and then once it says it couldn't find the AirPods Pro because I left my AirPods Pro at home, that is when I could click on JBL Clip 4 and connect it. That turns a 5 second process into something like a 15-20 second process.
​

• Apple Pay sometimes doesn't work on my iPhone

On several occasions since 2021, my iPhones would sometimes not pay using Apple Pay and would fail to pay. Sometimes, the iPhone couldn't even detect a reader even though the reader does work. Once I use Samsung Pay on my Samsung Galaxy devices as a backup, the payment did go through and it finally worked.
Yesterday, I was at the MBTA station, and I was attempting to pay for the Monthly pass. Ironically, even though the reader did work, the iPhone 14 Pro Max kept on saying 'Hold near Reader', and even though I held it near the mobile payment reader for 10-15 seconds, it still didn't do anything. Fed up, after the second time, I repaid the MBTA ticket and used my S22 Ultra and the payment did go through. However, at the restaurant around 1 hour later, even though I didn't restart the iPhone, Apple Pay finally worked again as I was able to pay my meal using Apple Pay.
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• Automatic updates are better on my Galaxies than my iPhones

My Samsung automatic updates are set overnight, and even with airplane mode turned on during the night, my Samsungs are always up to date without ever having to go to the settings app to update the firmware to Android 13. As for iPhone, they did schedule automatic updates between 4-5 am, but in reality, automatic updates keep failing even with Wi-Fi turned on overnight. If I wanted to update my iPhones, I would typically have to manually update via settings
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• Wi-Fi is far better on my Samsung Galaxy/Android phones than my iPhones, iPads, or Macs

I attended university between 2018 and 2022, and in late 2021, at university (I majored in CS by the way), my iPhones, iPads, and Macs would often struggle with Wi-Fi. My iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone 7 Plus (as of November 2021) would sometimes even outright refuse to connect to Wi-Fi and same goes with the MacBook 15' Core i9 (2019) (I have since upgraded to the M1 MBP 16 since the logic board on the MBP 2019 failed in November 2021), and if connected, at some parts of the university, they are extremely slow, and sometimes, borderline unusable. My S21 Ultra however, at the same place, worked far better and was able to load websites. Even my Windows laptop was able to load websites as well as my Galaxy A51 (I brought an A51 one day to MIT to see if the Wi-Fi issues only occurred on Apple products).
Fun fact: the Galaxy S21 Ultra was the first phone to offer Wi-Fi 6E and not even the iPhone 14 Pro Max supports this feature
Then in July 2022, during a flight from Dallas back to Boston, my iPhone 13 Pro Max and iPhone SE 2 would fail to connect to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network several times and if connected, the Wi-Fi was painfully slow and near unusable whilst my Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra connected to JetBlue's Wi-Fi network just fine and worked as expected, with websites loading reasonably quick, just like at my university with the S21 Ultra.
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• USB C lasts longer than lightning connector

Finally, one thing Samsung and Android OEMs do better than Apple is the fact that many Android devices, including Samsung Galaxy devices, come with USB-C which is the future compared to Apple's ancient lightning connector (frankly, Apple now uses USB-C on most of their iPads except for the entry level iPad 9). It allows for faster charging and transfer speeds and USB-C is basically superior to lightning, which is a relic from a bygone era. Plus, USB-C seems to last longer. Whilst my lightning connectors generally worn out between 6-18 months before having inconsistent connections or connectivity issues, my USB-C connectors would keep soldering on for at least 5 years before breaking down like the lightning connectors.
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TL;DR: Even though there are many benefits to owning an iPhone over an Android device, based on my user experience, after over 11 years of using various Samsung Galaxy phones, two Samsung Galaxy Tabs, and one Galaxy Bud and after over 12 years of using various iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and AirPods, I could safely assure that there are a lot of benefits to using Samsung and Android products over iPhones, namely due to the fact that notifications, customisation, features, options, Wi-Fi, multitasking, batteries, hotspot, Bluetooth, mobile payment, etc., are better on Samsung and Android products than on iPhones, based on my user experience.

Demographics
Gender: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Indian
Income Bracket: Full Pay at most
Type of School: Private (class size: 60)
Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None
Intended Major(s): Aerospace Engineering/Physics
Academics

• 9th (CBSE - Indian National Curriculum): 88.4%
• 10th (CBSE): 97.8% (Board Examination)
• 11th (IBDP): 31/42 (oops)
• 12th (IBDP): 43/45 (Predicted Score)
• 12th (IBDP Midterms): 41/45

Standardized Testing:
ACT: 32 (didn't submit to test-optional colleges)
IELTS: 8.0/9.0
Extracurriculars/Activities

1. National-level competition related to space settlements with 25 participant teams. Led a department in a team with 50+ members. Runners-up position.
   
2. Aerospace and vehicular design research internship with an Indian startup. Learnt 3D design software. Answered problem statements about propulsion systems, jet design, etc.
   
3. International forum (hosted by a Japanese high school). Part of the school team. Made energy use predictions till 2050 and proposed solutions using physics and math to tackle world energy problems.
   
4. Volunteered with an Indian NGO for 1.5 years. Took online classes (math and physics), hosted a panel discussion, organised competitions, and raised 2.6L INR. They recently released a short film about my volunteering experience.
   
5. Co-Founder of Girl Up club. Impacted 1700+ people in 2022. Raised 15k INR. Menstrual Health workshops in 30+ govt schools. Open mics and Diwali Carnival Stalls for fundraising and advocacy.
   
6. Internship with HR firm. Researched upcoming firms and trends in the real estate/infrastructure/construction sector (UAE).
   
7. Organised a science event at school. Entailed workshops for 6th-12th. 3 workshops by space scientists. A panel discussion with aerospace engineers and astrophysicists.
   
8. Ranked top 100 out of 2100+ teams for national environment competition. Encouraged schools to switch to solar energy. Compiled a video about four months long experience. Impacted 100+ people.
   
9. Part of the school’s Editorial Board (English Editor)
   
10. Participated in a business competition (model for sustainable gym wear)
    

Awards/Honors

1. Subject Topper Award for a perfect score in Science (10th grade)
   
2. UKMT Senior Mathematical Challenge (Silver Certificate)
   
3. Academic Prize Winner (10th Grade)
   

Letters of Recommendation

1. Math: 7.5/10. Didn't talk to my math teacher a lot during 11th grade. Discussed a lot of questions and IA topics in 12th + got my grades up.
   
2. Physics: 9/10. Have maintained a good relationship with her since 11th grade. Participated in a lot of competitions with her + organised the science event under her guidance.
   
3. English (for colleges that required a humanities LOR): 9/10. Doing my extended essay with her and have maintained good grades since 11th grade.
   
4. Counsellor: 9/10. Have maintained a good relationship with her since 11th grade. Go to her almost every two weeks to discuss ECs, grades, and application materials.
   
5. Volunteer NGO: 8.5/10. I have worked on many things with the person who wrote my LOR. We have a good relationship.
   

Decisions (in the order I received them):
University of Bristol (UK): Accepted
University of Cambridge (UK): Rejected
Georgia Tech (EA): Rejected :(
Purdue (EA): Deferred Accepted to second choice-major
University of Michigan (EA): Deferred Waitlisted (accepted spot on waitlist)
Arizona State University (Rolling): Accepted
UIUC (RD): Rejected (they told me it was because of my 11th finals score)
Virginia Tech (RD): Accepted
University of Washington (RD): Accepted!!
UC Davis: Waitlisted (rejected waitlist)
Harvey Mudd (RD): Rejected (applied for aid, expected)
Johns Hopkins (RD): Rejected (applied for aid, expected)
University of Virginia (RD): Waitlisted (rejected waitlist)
UC Irvine: Rejected
UC San Diego: Accepted
UCLA: Rejected :(
Imperial College London: ACCEPTED WTF WTF
Northeastern (RD): Rejected lmao
UW Madison (RD): Rejected lmao
UC Berkeley: Rejected :(
UCL: lmao still waiting can they hurry up

The block I need is for a sprinkler and I need to be able to adjust the distance it reaches as well as the angle, from 0 degrees (just a jet in one direction) to 360 degrees. Was able to make different visibility states for the distance with various sized circles and a hatch, but I don't know how to make a resizeable arc which adjust the angle it sprays at. Basically I'd like to replace the circle with an adjustable arc with a hatch within. Please help.

Had a pickup tonight at a busy McDonalds. The lobby was closed so I had to drive-thru. It was slow as mud, and when I finally told them my order code, they made me wait at a second window for another 5 mins… then gave me two bags that seems the right size and weight for the order. I was eager to get going after 15 mins in drive-thru so I grabbed them and jetted.
I didn’t realize until I was on the porch taking the picture to confirm delivery that the number on the receipt stuck to the bag was not the same as the one in my app.
What happens in this situation? Will that end up reflecting on my rating? Am I in the wrong for just finishing the order and scurrying off?

Respect The Chief

You're home now. We could finally make an officer of you. You'd have Admiral without much of an argument from anyone.
No offense, sir, but "The Admiral" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 is the most important figure of the human race in the mid-26th century. Abducted at the age of six by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), he was conscripted into the SPARTAN-II program. The initiative was originally designed to crush human rebellion against the Unified Earth Government as the human Insurrection movement neared its tipping point. John endured harsh physical and mental training, survived the physical augmentations required by the program, and was later matched with state-of-the-art Mjolnir battle armor.
Throughout his training and early career, John emerged as a clear leader among the Spartans and was set to lead a successful UNSC campaign to stop a brewing human civil war. Though through circumstance, he became the sole savior of the human race several times over. First, in the face of an alien hegemony called the Covenant--an advanced alien empire bent on the complete destruction of humanity. Later, against an eldritch parasite known as the Flood which toppled both the Ancient Human and Forerunner empires of the past. Most recently, John defended humanity against the efforts of an ancient Forerunner general called the Didact, who returned to take his revenge against humanity for wars fought a hundred millennia in the past.
Notes

• Feats are shown in chronological order in-universe
• Feats showing relevant scaling or context will be indented
• Hover over a feat to see the source.

Height: 6'10" // 7'2" (In armor)
Weight: 130 kg // 451.3 kg (In armor)

General Info (Augmentations / Mjolnir Armor)

Pre-Augmentation / Training
Spartans were heavily trained almost daily since they were kidnapped at the age of 6, leading them to become physically and mentally prime by the young age of 14 even before receiving their augmentations.

Dr. Halsey marveled at what a spectacular physical specimen he had grown into. Fourteen years old and he had the body of an eighteen-year-old Olympic athlete, and a mind the equal of any Naval Academy honors graduate.

Description of an unaugmented 14 year old John; The Fall of Reach Ch 6

Augmentations
Codenamed Project: ASTER, the Spartan candidates were augmented to drastically increase their physiology and physical capabilities. Their bones were laced with powerful material to make them 'virtually unbreakable', their muscle tissue density was increased and lactase recovery time was decreased, they were given hormones to boost skeletal and muscle growth, increased eyesight, and had their nerves altered to drastically increase reaction time.

• At the age of 14, Spartans could sprint at bursts of 55 kph (~34 mph) and had estimated reaction times of 20 milliseconds, though they would likely be significantly higher in combat due to adrenaline. They could lift three times their body weight and they have night vision.

MJOLNIR Armor / Stat boosts

The feats in this RT will sorted by which armor John is wearing, as each iteration of Mjolnir armor increases his abilities further.
Unarmored - These feats occur after John receives his augmentation, but without any Mjolnir armor. They also all happen to occur when he is 14 years old and still recovering from his augmentations.
MJOLNIR Mark IV - The Mk IV was the first iteration of armor given to John and the rest of Spartan II's at the age of 15.

• General description, it doubles it's wearers strength and increases reaction times by a factor of five.
  • Their reaction times were previously given to be a low end of 20 milliseconds, meaning with Mk IV it is at a low end of 5 milliseconds.
• The suit is so reactive and powerful that normal humans would be torn apart trying to use it.
• The suit can operate in vacuum by recycling air for 90 minutes. It is also shielded against radiation and EMP.
• The armor possesses motion sensors and thermal imaging to detect enemy troops.
• The armor is almost immediately given additional prototype upgrades, such as thrusters, surveillance drones, wrist-blades and active camouflage.
  • The active camo allows Spartans to walk right in the middle of a group of soldiers without them noticing.

Neural interface / Onboard Computer
Mjolnir armor is linked to Spartans with a neural interface, which means they simply have to think and the armor would perform an action. Combined with the onboard computer, it allows Spartans to do things such as place Waypoint markers, or targets on their HUDs with a thought.

• An example of its use during a fight, John can move his limbs with a thought to overwhelm attackers.
• The suit 'knows what John is thinking before he does', it's able to control the suit functions and John can control the suits thrusters with his thoughts.
• The onboard computer can predict where artillery shots would land during an artillery barrage, and guide them to safer locations.
• Spartans can share targeting data.
• Mjolnir's onboard computer can place HUD markers at designated targets.
• The onboard computer can calculate probable landing zones for enemy dropships.
• Mjolnir predicting the optimal time to dodge plasma cannon fire from Banshees.

MJOLNIR Mark V - Deployed almost two and a half decades after the previous iteration of MJOLNIR, the Mk V now possessed recharging energy shields but retained the same double strength multiplier as the Mk IV.

• General description, it includes two major improvements being the addition of rechargeable energy shields and the ability to house an AI (See previous Cortana section).
• The suit has sound receivers that can hear a whisper a hundred meters away.
• Energy shields begin regenerating 5 seconds after last being hit and take 4 seconds to fully recharge from a total drain (Gameplay).

Cortana - Cortana is the AI that was paired with Master Chief for Operation: REDFLAG, she is present for the feats that occur while John is wearing MJOLNIR Mk V and most while wearing Mk VI.

• Cortana provides tactical and strategic information to John in the field, is able to infiltrate computer and communication systems and greatly improves John's reaction time.

Hacking

• Cortana was loaded with ONI's best insurgency/hacking software in preparation for Operation: RED FLAG.
• While put to work checking the ssytems of a UNSC warship, Cortana runs through ONIs computesecurity systems on the planet Reach for fun, easily overwhelming other ONI AIs.
• She hacks a Covenant carrier, first from the outside disabling it's weapons and communications systems for a short while, allowing her squad to board it. Then when aboard the ship she develops a path for her ground team, gives false tracking info to the Covenant hunter-killer teams and ultimately vents the ships atmosphere killing most of the thousands of Covenant aboard.
  • Outside of Cortana, the Covenant were generally far above the UNSC in terms of network security, with Dr. Halsey comparing the Covenants understanding of human systems within a few weeks of first contact to the UNSCs understanding of the Covenants after several decades.

MJOLNIR Mark VI - Due to the UNSCs rapid advances in technology, the Mk VI was deployed less than two months after the Mk V rendering it obsolete, containing major improvements in both shielding and stat multipliers.

• The Mk VI increases the wearers strength by a factor of 5, making them 2.5x stronger than in previous Suits. The Suit also has self contained biofoam injectors, pumping Spartans full of the UNSCs miracle drug in case they are ever injured.
  • Biofoam stabilizes most wounds and allows limited combat ability even in the event of limb loss.
  • A Spartan suffering from a gruesome headshot has his wound filled with biofoam and is back in combat within a relatively short time.
• The Mk VI's energy shields are much more powerful and recharge a lot faster.
• Energy shields begin regenerating 4.25 seconds after last being hit, and take 1.75 seconds to fully recharge from a total drain (Gameplay).

MJOLNIR GEN 2 - The second generation of MJOLNIR armor developed after the Human-Covenant war ended. Every aspect of the armor has been improved upon and thrusters are now built into each set of armor, drastically increasing maneuverability.

• Every suit now comes with built in thrusters.
  • Spartans can use their thrusters to effectively fly.
• The armor expects when combat is coming and optimizes it's systems automatically.
• GEN 2 armor has 360 degree vision that sees far into the EM spectrum.
• Magnet Boots - Allows Spartans to fight while walking vertically down the side of a skyscraper sized ship.
• The armor has self repair systems in case the shielding and suit is ever pierced.

Skill

Unarmored

• At the age of 14, John kills/cripples four ODSTs easily. - literature version
• John alongside three other Spartans capture a bunker from guards wearing the Mjolnir Mark I armor, which would have taken 2 to 3 platoons of Marines to capture. - Mjolnir Mark I info/picture.
• Spartans have been trained to fight in zero gravity.
• Spartan IV candidates are trained in several martial arts such as Aikido, Jiu-Jitsu and Krav Maga. Presumably the Spartan IIs are heavily trained with them.

Mk IV

• At the age of 15, John alongside Kelly, Fred and Linda wiped an army of well over 100 Covenant, including several Elite Ultras, Zealots and a Field Marshall.
• John and his Spartans are trained to identify high value targets based off subtle visual cues, making it easy to snipe enemy commanders.
• While defending a planet over the course of a few days, John alongside the rest of Blue team destroyed over 100 Wraith tanks.
• Speedruns through a Covenant carrier alongside Fred and Kelly.
• Both Dr. Halsey and Cortana conclude John is overall the best Spartan.
• He has been awarded every major service medal except the Prisoner of War Medallion.

Mk V

• During Johns testing for the Mk V armor, he faces off against a fighter jet that is so fast it regularly travels in and out of visible range. John tanks it's 50mm autocannons, then deflects and tanks an anti tank missile, afterwards sprinting away at 66 mph though he tears his Achilles tendon doing so.
• While fighting a particularly massive (10 ft+ tall) Sangheilli in low gravity, John uses his skill to beat the Elite even though they were evenly matched in strength.

Mk VI

• John escapes deadly situations so often that he almost believes that death is optional for him.
• He's confident he can wipe out an entire Covenant unit of 50 infantry and 4 Wraith tanks without any heavy weapons, but he chooses to save a group of soldiers instead.
• Merks 40+ Brutes by himself.
• Each Spartan II has 'the equivalent combat power of an entire Sector Fleet'.
• John is proficient in all aspects of infantry tactics, as well as low gravity combat. He is able to effectively lead detachments the size of battalions, and UNSC personnel of all ranks generally defer to his leadership.
  • John was offered to be made an Admiral by the UNSCs Fleet Admiral and head of their Security Council, but he refused.

GEN 2

• Alongside Blue team, John fights through a massive army of Prometheans.
• Spartans are able to punch out the Warden Eternal while evading his sword swings.

Strength

Unarmored

• During John's first time working out while recovering from receiving his augmentations, he notes that 1 G of gravity feels too light and 2 G's feels more normal.
• 14 year old John breaks the bones of ODST's and disfigures them with his strikes.
• At 14 years old, Spartans could not train against normal humans anymore due to repeatedly killing them by accident, so their trainers had to be placed in Mjolnir Mark I armor.
• At the age of 14, John kicks a man wearing a MJOLNIR Mark I exoskeleton eight meters away.
  • Another child Spartan could dent the heavy metal plates of the armor with his punches, the armor is impervious to light weapons.
• At the age of 14, John wrenches and rips a 30 millimeter minigun off a MJOLNIR Mark I exoskeleton with his bare hands.
• Shortly after receiving their augmentations, Spartans could lift three times their body weight.

Mk IV

• The Mk IV doubles it's wearers strength.
• During Johns first test of MJOLNIR he could shatter concrete targets with a punch
• John lifts a Spec Ops Elite overhead and folds him on his own energy sword.
• 15 year old John lifts and throws a cargo sled that was large enough to haul an entire platoon alongside a couple of pieces of artillery, and long enough to hold two Spartans lying end-to-end.
• John buckles the leg of a Special-Forces/Bloodstar Elite sideways with a stomp.
• John beats the arm of a Silent Shadow Elite until it's wrist is snapped sideways.
• Effortlessly punches through a weapons locker that was undamaged by a man bashing it with a large gas canister.
• John can effectively wield 110 kg Gauss cannons and use them for hit and run attacks against a column of 50 Covenant tanks.
• At the age of 16, John is able to withstand 12 metric tons of force on his legs.
• While 16 years old, John gets pinned down by an alien spider-like vehicle that was larger than a Warthog but it doesn't crush him, he is able to partially lift it. He also implies he has pushed Warthogs off of him before.
• Rips a steel and bullet-proof glass security door off of its steel reinforcing on a wall.
• An Insurrectionist general believes John can rip him in half.
• Crushes a Jackal's skull with a kick.
• John, alongside three other Spartans (one of whom was injured and missing an arm) push a 3x3x6 meter quartz monolith, an object that would weigh over 125 metric tons.
• John travels while carrying a half-ton Spartan over his shoulder.
• The Franchise Development Director of Halo, Frank O'Connor, states that Spartans can flip and bench press tanks, which correlates with their in game ability to flip tanks.
  • Halo CE's manual states that flipping vehicles is accomplished by his strength.
  • While flipping tanks is a high end / outlier for Spartans wearing earlier armor, GEN 2 wearing Spartans have been shown flipping tanks with only the shock wave of their strikes.

Mk V

• The Mk V possesses the same 2x strength multiplier as the Mk IV, so he should be able to replicate these feats in the previous Mk IV section.
• Runs through a field of razor wire, snapping them effortlessly.
• While specifically holding back to not kill them, John cripples many ODST's who are trying to kill him. Notably John breaks alot of bones, pulls a gun that is being held by an ODST so hard his shoulder dislocates, and bends the barrel of an assault rifle rendering it useless.
• A trio of Grunts landing on him and attempting to take off his armor is laughable to him.
• Caves in the skull of a Grunt with a pistol-whip.
• A melee attack breaks a Jackals energy shield gauntlet and launches him off of a cliff.
• Flips a Warthog.
• Flips a Warthog again but this time from grabbing it by the bumpers.
• Cracks the spines of a pair of elites with his strikes.
• Punches through a human skull inside a Flood Proto-Gravemind
• Crushes the skull of an elite with a punch and again reiterates he is strong enough to flip Warthogs.
• Crushes the skull of a Grunt with the butt of his assault rifle.
• Spartans are able to punch though tank armor.
  • Wraith armor is completely impervious to .50 caliber AA rounds.
  • Wraiths are durable enough to tank shots from their own mortars, which vaporize titanium battle plate, concrete and flesh within a twenty meter radius.
  • Spartans wearing Mk IV are shown in official artwork to be able to rip open tanks and toss armored Brutes (>1 metric ton) away with one arm.
  • A random Spartan wearing Mk V is able to destroy Covenant tanks in H2H, and several Spartans hold off a Covenant army of 30000.

Mk VI

• The Mk VI increases the wearers strength by a factor of 5, making them 2.5x stronger than in the previous Mk IV and Mk V Suits.
• Punches through the head of a Jackal.
• Tosses a Brute behind him.
  • Armored Brutes weigh over a metric ton.
• John can punch through UNSC ship metal.
• Tanks a melee attack from a Promethean Knight, then punches it off of him.
• John can rip off the arms of Promethean Knights and impale them with it.
  • Promethean Knights are strong enough to toss around Warthogs which weigh 3 metric tons.
• John stabs into the hull of a Lich (Covenant ultra heavy siege platform) while free falling with no leverage.
• John can overcome an Elites energy shielding with a single punch.
• Pushes and kicks a missile hammer several meters. (A 2x3x1.5m block of Titanium which is roughly the dimensions of the missile hammer would weigh over 40 metric tons.)

GEN 2

• Lifting Warthogs (3 metric tons), bending steel and shattering concrete is a baseline feat for all Spartans, not indicative of their limits.
• John shatters a Battle Rifle by hitting Spartan Locke with it.
• Overpowers Spartan Locke.
  • Locke is strong enough to flip over a 42.3 tonne tank with the shock-wave of his attack, effortlessly fly and run through walls as well as tackle aircraft out of the air, and boost through the bulk of a massive stone statue.
• Spartans can snap the necks of Elites.
• Spartans can instantly kill an Elite with a two-handed strike.
• Spartans can rip through Forerunner Armigers.
  • Forerunner Armigers are strong enough to throw humans dozens of meters away.
• Spartans can kill a Forerunner Armiger with a stomp.
• Spartans can punch out the legs of the Warden Eternal.

Durability

Mk IV

• The Mk IV doesn't possess energy shields, it relies entirely on the armor plating for protection.
• The armor has a refractive coating to help disperse incoming energy attacks.
• During Johns first test of MJOLNIR, bullets were harmlessly deflecting off his armor.
• The Mk IV can tank numerous Covenant Carbine shots, though they come close to penetrating the armor. Covenant Carbines fire 8x60mm projectiles at hypersonic (mach 5+) velocities making them far more powerful than almost any modern small arms.
• A .50 caliber depleted uranium round fired from an AA gun glances off John's armor.
  • [Limit] A young Kelly states that sustained fire from that weapon would penetrate the Mk IV.
• Tanks fire from hundreds of skilled marksmen with their rounds only 'dinging' his armor.
• Tanks plasma fire from a Covenant Ghost.
  • Ghost plasma is stated to be 5000 degrees.
• Tanks the nearby detonation of 1 MT nuke (John was at ground zero and had only 30 seconds to sprint away before it detonated).
  • Nukemap stats - Because the event was on a moon with minimal atmosphere and gravity, the heat and radiation figures are much more important.
• Tanks Covenant Needle and Spike rounds that can separate an ODST into pieces.
  • In the same novel it's stated that ODST's wear bullet proof armor that is effective at tanking armor piercing rounds, and someone wearing that armor harmlessly tanks small arms fire from several shooters.
• Tanks several Needle Rifle shots, with the needles shattering off his armor.
• Shrugs off being directly hit by a Hunters 2 ton shield.
• Spartans can tank anything short of a direct hit by a Wraiths plasma mortar, which vaporize everything within a 20 meter radius.
• Tanks Plasma Rifle fire from a hundred Drones who were chasing after him.
• Harmlessly tanks a nearby grenade detonation that spatters his faceplate with shrapnel.
• Spartans in Mark IV have similar durability's to light tanks.
• Covenant Needler shots bounce off his armor.

Mk V

• The Mk V is the first armor to possess energy shields, with each further iteration of armor gaining much more durable energy shields.
• A three round burst from an MA5B assault rifle drops his energy shields a 'hairbreadth'.
• Tanks shots from 30mm chainguns without even noticing he was being hit and without his energy shields breaking.
• Tanks 50mm autocannon fire from a jet without his energy shields breaking.
• Tanks the detonation of a nearby Scorpion missile designed to take out tanks. He was launched six meters and the missile itself created a two meter deep crater, though his energy shields did break.
• Covenant Needler shots bounce off his energy shields.
• Tanks a lifeboat crash that ripped open the craft and mangled everyone else aboard.
• Tanks a shot from a Hunters fuel rod cannon without his energy shields breaking and can tank direct hits even when his shields are low on charge.
• Tanks a melee hit from a Hunter while his shields are already low from tanking a fuel rod shot.
• Tanks an explosion from crashing a Banshee into a wall without any injuries.

Mk VI

• Tanks crashing into the Titanium hull of a warship at an extremely high velocity.
• Unharmed by a nearby Wraith's plasma shot which killed three other soldiers who were further away from it than him.
• Unfazed by a massive explosion.
• Tanks plasma fire from 6 Hunters.
• Tanks the detonation of a point blank plasma grenade that vaporizes a Brute Chieftain and scorches close to a dozen nearby Grunts.
• [Tanks a fall from orbit onto the Earth, and while his armor locks up automatically due to the impact, John himself is uninjured.]( "Halo 3")
  • Official artwork shows John falling from orbit.
• John tanks the laser blasts of 343 Guilty Spark, a Forerunner Monitor.
  • Another Spartan wearing slightly worse armor tanks more Forerunner monitor attacks, which are powerful enough to vaporize Hunters who weigh 5 metric tons and are covered in starship armor.
• Tanks being hit by a Warthog at very high speeds.
• Tanks a fall from orbit onto the planet Requiem completely unharmed, crashing into a lot of debris along the way.
• Tanks a melee attack from a Promethean Knight and punches it off of him afterwards.
  • Promethean Knights are strong enough to knock around Warthogs which weigh 3 metric tons.
• Unharmed after being thrown into a wall extremely hard by the Didact.
• Tanks a slipspace rupture crash that creates a massive crater from his impact (Ghost for scale).
• John had his evolution accelerated by the Forerunner known as the Librarian, giving him an immunity to the Composer which digitizes living creatures.

GEN 2

• Survives getting his head crushed by the Didact, then being thrown into Fred extremely hard.
• Tanks an extremely deep fall without any problem.

Speed

Unarmored

• John notes how objects appear to move in slow motion to him shortly after receiving his augmentations
• Special Forces appear similarly slow to John.
• John could move in blurs and was able to dodge point blank stun rounds from a 30mm cannon.
  • Another child Spartan dodges the stun rounds in mid air.
  • 14 year old Kelly dodges fire from several shooters and is too fast for the self-targeting system to track.
• At the age of 14, Spartans could sprint at bursts of 55 kph (~34 mph) and had estimated reaction times of 20 milliseconds, though they would likely be significantly higher in combat due to adrenaline. This is shortly after they received their augmentations and is expected to increase as their bodies adjust to the changes, and likely as they age as well.
  • Spartans experiencing the world in slow motion due to adrenaline is something they refer to as 'Spartan time'.
• [Limit] John is unable to completely dodge close range fire from three shooters, getting hit by three bullets.

Mk IV

• The Mk IV increases it's wearers reaction times by a factor of five. Their reaction times were previously given to be a low end of 20 milliseconds, meaning with Mk IV it is at a low end of 5 milliseconds.
• The first thing John does in MJOLNIR is move his arm almost FTE to his already augmented self.
• During Johns first test of MJOLNIR at the age of 14 he was fast enough to dodge bullets.
• Evades fire from hundreds of skilled marksmen while he was in a low gravity environment that limited his maneuverability.
• Moves to block a Needle Rifle shot after it was fired.
• Moves out of sight of several people faster than they could see.
• Jogs at 25mph for 10 kilometers alongside other Spartans.

Mk V

• ODST's move in slow motion to John.
• Dodges bullets after they are fired by an ODST, and again but after they are fired by three ODST's and again.
• With the help of Cortana, John deflects a Scorpion anti-tank missile that was tracking him.
• Immediately after tanking an anti-tank missile, John sprints ~66 mph across a half-kilometer distance though he tears his Achilles tendon doing so.
• He's able to dodge the laser weapons of Forerunner Aggressor sentinels.

Mk VI

• Immediately sprints at a speed of ~45 mph from rest.
• Intercepts and blocks a Covenant Beam Rifle shot after it's fired from roughly 30 meters away, which is a weapon that fires at ~Mach 10.7.
  • Another Spartan wearing the same armor dodges beam rifle shots twice including once from point blank. It's also being fired by a specialized Spartan Sniper if there are any doubts on it's accuracy.
• Maneuvers in mid-air to dodge gunfire from numerous Brutes.

GEN 2

• Spartans can avoid a sword swing from the Warden Eternal without even looking.

Marksmanship

• While running, John scores several headshots on Jackal snipers with his pistol.
• While Sprinting at around 45 mph, Chief is able to land multiple head and neck shots on several Jackal snipers who are around 30 meters away from him, shooting fast enough that his Magnum shots bleed together.
• Spartans can routinely land accurate sniper shots over a kilometer away while they are on the move.

Mobility

• John could balance atop and leap across ten meter tall wooden poles 10 centimeters in diameter even though he weighs half a ton in his armor.
• Spartans can jump ~25+ meters vertically onto a moving vehicle using his thrusters. (Mammoths are 27.1 meters tall.)
• Without using thrusters, Spartans can leap into the air 'like crickets' and engage aircraft.
• Spartans can easily scale cliffs.
• Spartans in GEN 2 armor can use their thrusters to effectively fly.

Endurance

• At 15 years old John is capable of sprinting 7 kilometers while expecting to do combat immediately after.
• 16 year old Blue Team covers 19 kilometers in 33 minutes, stopping twice to do weapon checks, running on rough terrain with support equipment, and running with their weapons in their hands. Roughly 24 mph sustained over 19km, with no intended rest before initiating combat.

Other Spartan Feats / Additional Scaling

Weapons / Equipment

Enemies / Additional Scaling

The four Spartans that composed Blue Team covered his back, standing absolutely silent and immobile in their MJOLNIR combat armor. Someone had once commented that they looked like Greek war gods in the armor … but his Spartans were far more effective and ruthless than Homer’s gods had ever been.

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Synopsis:
Juliette Contzen is a lazy, good-for-nothing princess. Overshadowed by her siblings, she's left with little to do but nap, read … and occasionally cut the falling raindrops with her sword. Spotted one day by an astonished adventurer, he insists on grading Juliette's swordsmanship, then promptly has a mental breakdown at the result.
Soon after, Juliette is given the news that her kingdom is on the brink of bankruptcy. At threat of being married off, the lazy princess vows to do whatever it takes to maintain her current lifestyle, and taking matters into her own hands, escapes in the middle of the night in order to restore her kingdom's finances.
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Copious Ohohohohos.
​
Chapter 21: Arcane Nature
Her moonlit scythe trailing behind her golden hair, Coppelia wore an expression of undiluted enthusiasm as she violently swung her weapon in a brilliant crescent. Once again, Marina was forced to defend herself against the sudden assault.
“[Conflagration Nova]!”
And just like that—
Coppelia was sent hurtling into a second hole, right beside the one she'd just created. The wall welcomed her back to an explosion of stone before the scene was completely engulfed in dust yet again.
My mouth still hadn't closed yet.
What … What was that?!
What was anything?!
Coppelia … ! She had a scythe! A scythe!
A tool for harvesting crops! A companion of peasants! A sigil of poverty!
Except this was not some farming apparatus for harvesting wheat! It was … It was huge! And glowing! And she'd … summoned it into existence!
And now she was stuck in a wall! … Again!
“C … Coppelia?!”
I called out towards the thick cloud of debris, my head only now catching up with the fact that our opponent, Marina Lainsfont, was also equally ridiculous. So much so that I could now remember her name!
I only remembered the names of the wealthy or the influential!
Yet even if I knew she was responsible for the Withering, little could have prepared me for the magic she wielded. To witness her immaculate spellcasting was to witness my first split end. That same sense of astonishment and disgust welled up inside me as I realised the mage before me sought to end my carefree lifestyle.
If Marina's fire magic damaged even a single hair on my head, then it'd be hours before I could laugh at anyone again!
This opponent … was dangerous!
[Fiery Absolution], [Molten Barrier], [Conflagration Nova]. I had no idea where these spells stood among a mage's repertoire, but I knew the Mage's Guild adored ranking their abilities based solely on what sounded the most impressive.
Anything with names like these could only be exceptionally high level abilities, capable of ruining hours of torturous hairstyling in moments!
And Coppelia had just received Marina's attacks in full! … Twice!
“H … How dare you strike back at my future attendant!” I called out to Marina, her hands enveloped with fire once again. “Not only is her fluffy hair one of her best features, but if a member of my personal entourage attacks you, it is illegal to defend yourself!”
The mage frowned, her heavy breathing evident as her eyes looked between the second cloud of dust and the sword I held in my hand.
“Ugh, two pests in a closed space,” she said, her palms raised in a cauldron of flame. “[Flight], [Cloud Step] and [Portal] restricted. If that ridiculous scythe suddenly appears in front of me again, I won't be able to—”
“Understood! ... [Moonlit Flutter]!”
The dust was still falling off her shoulders when Coppelia's form flashed in front of Marina again. Neither her enthusiastic smile had faded, nor the keenness of her scythe as it trailed behind while cleaving the air.
Marina, however, simply smirked.
“Moron.”
She clicked her fingers.
Suddenly, every loose shard of rock in the chamber shot towards the mage—including the larger chunks resulting from the two craters behind Coppelia.
They zipped past the clockwork doll as well as into her, slamming into her back and sending her hurtling over Marina's head. The scythe twisted in the air, slicing at a strand of hazelnut hair as the mage tilted her head.
“[Inferno Tornado]!”
As Coppelia acrobatically flipped in the air and landed gracefully on her feet, she turned to witness the ribbons of stone shards now enveloping the mage.
Stone shards which then burst into flame.
In moments, the temperature of the chamber rapidly rose. And then Marina disappeared.
In her place stood a vortex of fire. A twisting tornado which caused the edge of the basin of water to literally melt away. Bubbles of boiling water were sighted before being hidden by a plume of steam. The air whistled with the sound of lashing flames as a tornado of burning shards sharper than daggers stood between Coppelia and I.
And it wasn't content to merely stand for long.
That tornado—headed straight towards Coppelia.
Such a deadly whirlwind of primal earth and magic! If Coppelia was swept up in it, she'd surely be torn to pieces! Even thinking about it caused my stomach to lurch!
Why, if her workshop demanded reparations from me, I'd be bankrupt for life!
I had to act … if not to save her, then at least take advantage of her heroic death!
“Don't worry, Coppelia! I won't let your sacrifice be in vain!”
“Hey! I'm not sacrificing myself, okay? Look at me, I'm fine!”
Coppelia wore an expression of unmatched optimism, waving her arms and flicking her feet despite the extensive smattering of dust and grime to her face.
I was deeply moved. What valour, to pretend to be perfectly fine even as she was so clearly offering her life to give me an opening!
Brandishing my sword, I stepped towards the cyclone.
Powerful though it may be, what was a tornado, but a gust of wind? Compared to the gale which slammed against my tower as I slept, this was but a parlour trick. I was a child of winter, and I was born beneath a thunderstorm. Neither the wind nor anything it carried could daunt me … or the fragile dresses I braved in the name of high fashion!
Whether rain or stone, I would disperse anything that tried!
My dignity depended on it!
“I'll avenge you, fair clockwork maiden!” I solemnly vowed, raising my sword over my head. “A whisper woven in spring, comes the butterf—”
“Nooope!” said Coppelia, startling me by suddenly appearing by my side. Her hand lowered my arm. “I definitely don't need to tag you in today!”
“C-Coppelia! You're alive!”
“I've barely done anything! Stop trying to kill me off already!”
With an assured look, she readied her scythe behind her, then lowered her posture like a cat ready to pounce.
The tornado had now turned towards us, and was no longer merely swirling death, but spitting it too. Two jets of flame spread out like the wings of a phoenix, carrying it forward as it swept directly over … no, through the basin of water.
The water bubbled as it parted, a deep, boiling fissure lying in the tornado's wake as steam filled up the chamber.
That's when Coppelia wore her zaniest smirk yet.
“Time for another plunge, I think.”
She leapt off, that moonlit blade almost seeming to scatter stardust behind it as she twisted fully in the air, before landing on the chamber's ceiling.
It ... It was ridiculous!
Shards of molten rock shot after her as she dashed, her scythe dragging into the ceiling to keep her anchored. Huge chunks of flaming rock the size of small boulders hurled themselves at her. She turned and twisted past them all, skipping deftly as she propelled herself onwards.
As Coppelia neared the inferno tornado, a sheer wall of molten stone was formed using every rock and shard available. Encompassing more space than the clockwork doll could possibly avoid, the burning mass was launched at the girl whose eyes glittered from the flames approaching her.
“Wrong choice!”
Releasing her scythe, she twisted her body as she pushed off the ceiling, bearing down on the oncoming wall with her fashionable, rosy shoes.
“Aahahhahaahaha!!”
Far from looking to escape, Coppelia gave a girlish, if slightly villainous laugh as she met the molten wall with all her might.
For a single instant, the flaming barrier halted.
“[Coppelia Kick]!”
And then went backwards as Coppelia punted it back towards the direction it came.
The force of her kick cracked it into separate chunks. Flaming pieces whizzed into the basin of water, causing jets of water to erupt over the tornado. For a moment, the mage's flames were doused just enough for Coppelia to follow through on her ridiculous strike.
Riding the largest chunk of flaming wall, she smashed it directly into the whirling tornado. The fiery gale slowed upon impact, and the clear silhouette of a shocked figure could be seen buckling underneath the force of Coppelia's driving kick.
Not allowing this chance to pass, Coppelia hopped off the wall she'd cannoned back into the mage and rotated in the air. The blade of her scythe gleamed, overpowering the diminished flames as she brought the tip down onto the tornado like a headsman's axe.
The figure beneath crumpled as Coppelia drove her scythe down. Steam overtook my entire vision. The flaming tornado disappeared into the water, utterly engulfed by the vengeful tide. The entire basin shook as it swallowed both its victims whole.
Darkness eclipsed the chamber once again.
All except where my sword's light attempted to pierce the steam.
“Owowowowowow!! Hot, hot, hot, hot!!”
And also where Coppelia landed beside me, stamping the flames from her shoes as she attempted to swipe the steam around us away.
“[Spring Breeze!]”
The clockwork doll gave a sigh of relief as the flames were blown away—as was the steam as it whipped up from the ground and bundled against the cavern ceiling like a thick, marshmallow-like cloud.
Coppelia hadn't sacrificed herself. And yet I had no time to instruct her on the proper etiquette of dying heroically. Because all I could feel was horror.
The receding of the white mist revealed a lone figure rising from the now much shallower pool of water. Marina was still standing. And that wasn't the only source of my ire.
I realised with a groan that the mage's flames weren't the only light that had been extinguished from this chamber.
It was the starflower, which now lay smouldering in a black, wilted heap.
“Gosh, I forgot how much fire hurts,” said Coppelia, puffing her cheeks as she blew at her shoes. “Mostly since I'm fireproof. But I could feel my cogs getting hotter. Hey, try touching my key. How warm is it?”
“I'm not touching your key,” I replied, comforted at least in the knowledge that I could argue against any minor repair fees billed towards me. “Are you whole?”
“Almost. I think I lost a strand of hair.”
I carefully took her in, covered as she was like some seasoned chimney sweeper, then took a step away.
“In that case, you'll need to seek reparations from our assailant,” I said, nodding at the woman yet again drenched from head to toe. “As do I, if she's now responsible for the loss of an immensely rare flower.”
Coppelia smiled, her absurdly large scythe resting against her shoulder. Yet even as she relaxed, her eyes never left the figure rising from the diminished water basin.
Marina Lainsfont flicked out her hands. No jets of flames dispersed from them. Only droplets of water as she made a half-hearted attempt at shaking the water away.
“Really. I'd hoped that the key sticking from your back was a toy piece,” she said, her snapping tone easily carrying through the chamber. “A clockwork doll. A fascinating combatant to test myself against, were the conditions not wholly in your favour. Which of the workshops are you from?”
“The best one,” replied Coppelia with an unnecessary twirl of her scythe. Especially as it was near me. “How did I fare?”
“Above expectations.”
Marina opened the satchel by her belt. I felt Coppelia tense.
Then, the young woman pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her brows.
“You,” I said, illuminating her form with my raised sword. “Explain yourself. Why have you sought to bring ruin to this kingdom's fields? What goal do you hope to achieve by wishing famine on the people, and consequently, a wholly undeserved revolution on the innocent royal family?”
Marina dried her hands.
“Oh my. Such a grand tone. It's almost as if you believe you have me at your mercy.”
“Ohhohoho …” I placed my hand to my cheek. “Your magic has been spent and your flames doused. Your fate is no longer your own. The extent of your cooperation, however, will determine the number of soap bars you'll be required to create with your prodigious talents.”
Marina burst into laughter. Echoing within this chamber, it was like the cackling of a coven of witches. I frowned. Her laugh was drowning out mine.
“Spent? You believe my magic to be spent?”
And then, her eyes took on a deep, violet hue, so stunning that for a moment, my arm lowered Starlight Grace to better see them framed against the darkness.
I … I wanted to do that too!
Chastising the servants was unnecessary if I could simply have my eyes ominously glow in anger instead! Was this magic? Alchemy? How was this wonderfully convenient tool accessible?
“Girl,” she hissed. “The fire that was quenched is the only thing that was holding my magic in check.”
She raised her hands. And out poured magic.
Not the crimson of flames. But something deadlier. And older. Magic the colour of her eyes, crackling into the shape of a warping, twisting globe of pure energy. Violet arcs lashed around the orb as it expanded between her hands, the steam surrounding it being visibly absorbed.
“You have my congratulations,” said Marina, her tone booming, as though even her voice had been empowered. “To have dulled my flames which burn mightier than dragonfire, you have achieved a feat worthy of commemoration. And in your honour, I will now incinerate the two of you until even the earth cannot weep for your ashes. The magic you have unwittingly unleashed will now not only spell your demise, but those of the fools above as well. In your haste to prove yourselves worthy, you have sentenced the innocent to die. Speak now, for I am adjudicator of your doom, and I will hear your last words!”
I looked at the basin of water as it began to glow.
“Duck,” I replied.
Marina frowned.
“'Duck'? What do you mean—”
Coppelia ducked. As did I.
A moment later, all the arcana crystals which were hidden at the bottom of the basin lit up.
And then everything exploded.
​
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Hi! I'm an American woman in my early-mid 20s. I'm planning on moving abroad and am currently researching different options. Japan isn't the only country I'm considering, but it is near the top of my list. I'm looking for some general careeliving advice and recommendations on where I can do more research from people who have more knowledge than myself.
Here is some context I think might be relevant when you are giving advice:

• I graduated from a medium sized public research university in the US with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education
• I am almost done with my first year as a public elementary school teacher
• I speak some (emphasis on some) Japanese which I learned through self-study over the past few years. As of recently I am taking this studying more seriously and plan to take (and hopefully pass) the JLPT N5 or N4 in December 2023
• Last year I applied to the JET Program but was not accepted. (I did rush my application, but I don't want to make excuses. It is possible that even if I had invested more time I would not have been accepted)
• I would prefer to live in the Kanto region (because it's near Tokyo) or Hokkaido (because I prefer cold weather), but I'm really open to anywhere. (I can withstand hot weather, but it's not my favorite so I don't think I'd like Okinawa)
• I have some small (easily covered) tattoos. I know this is not as socially acceptable in Japan (compared to the US) so I wanted to include that since it might affect employment opportunities

Upon moving abroad I am looking to either teach at an international school, teach English at a Japanese public school, or attend an American or international university to get a graduate degree related to education or linguistics.
Next year I'm going to attend the UNI International School Job Fair, but I'm wondering if anyone on here also teaches at an international school in Japan and has any advice on where I can do more research or just general advice.
I know there are other English teaching programs besides JET, but I'm confused about their credibility and I was wondering if anyone had opinions or recommendations on that? Also I'm not sure how important a TESOL/TEFL certification is?
As for universities, I originally liked TUJ, but I've read only negative things about them on this subreddit so I'm not going to apply there. I've been doing some research on international universities but am wondering if anyone has any recommendations based on their personal experience regarding what schools I should spend my time on. I would also only attend one with graduate degrees in Education or Linguistics.
Also any general advice is much appreciated! I apologize if I'm asking for something too vague, I'm just feeling overwhelmed by the wealth of information and I thought some of the people on this subreddit likely have much more knowledge than me and could point me in the right direction or tell me if I'm totally crazy and shouldn't try to move haha. Anyways thank you if you read all the way through and thank you in advance for any advice! :)