Jewel Bearing Puns

So couple days ago i decided to start a new personal project, make my own mechanical wrist watch, i read allot about the working principe and i think i figure it out.

but while trying to make the list of needed material i couldn't find the jewel bearings, the only place where i was able to find them was Alibaba and the minimum order was +1000.

any tips? Alternative bearings maybe?

Does anyone know where I can order a single cup jewel bearing? I’ve found one place that has them (Swiss Jewel) but they have a $25 minimum and the shipping is $15 so, I’m basically paying $40 for a $5 item. I only need one, maybe two.

Just got an MC-2 Global, bought direct from Suunto and shipped to me from Finland.

A little disappointed today in how "sticky" the needle can be at slightly off-angles. Taking a closer look, it doesn't look like there's a jewel in the pivot---looks like a steel pin poking into a clear plastic pivot point.

Furthermore, it seems that the old "High grade steel needle" has been replaced with a clear plastic (silk screened) needle.

Looking at the description on the Suunto site, the Global model indeed does not mention a steel needle (the non-Global one still does), but the Global says "Fast globally balanced needle with jewel bearing."

Seems like they changed from steel to plastic at some point, and maybe ditched the jewel bearing along with it?

Anyway, this Amazon review pinpoints the issue with some close-up photographs of old vs new:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1JDXSMXX36AY5/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00WT5FT5A

You can also see that the new needle is black on the south end, where the old metal needle was white on the south end.

My plastic needle has these little vertical "feet" at the end, where the plastic is bent up at 90 degrees. Seems like these drag on the top side of the capsule a bit.

My question: Has anyone else noticed this change? Is there any explanation for it, aside from the obvious (cheaper manufacturing)? Is there a true noticeable performance degradation with the new plastic needle?

And is the jewel bearing really gone?

UPDATE 1:

One other thing I just noticed....

If I open the compass on a flat, level surface (wood desk with no metal parts nearby), I notice that the black (south) end of the needle is much higher than the red (north) end. The whole needle is tilted down toward the red end. I noticed this in the field too, where there red end felt like it was dragging all the time, and I often felt like I had to tilt the whole compass against this needle tilt artificially to get an accurate, drag-free reading. I though this was the point of a global needle: that the needle pivots separately from the magnet, and balances with gravity, while the magnet can get pulled down toward north without pulling the needle down. I see the little ring-shaped magnet in the center, and what looks like two clear plastic fulcrums on either side of it, and the magnet can kinda wiggle independently from the needle a bit. But obviously, not enough, if I'm experiencing this much needle tilt on a flat surface

Any differences between the two or are the terms interchangeable?

I'm trying to find a cheapish swiss ball rotor watch on ebay, but I'm having trouble distinguishing them from jewel beared. Anyone have tips? Should I look for a screw?

For instahce:

http://static.flickr.com/34/113992004_b9948aca64.jpg

or

http://forums.watchuseek.com/attachments/f10/375658d1295458413-slava-2427-k5-32-jewels-automatic-mvt.jpg

Or

http://forums.watchuseek.com/attachments/f11/256789d1265862248-who-produced-smallest-automatic-movement-omegax.jpg

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Quarters! // Red [Grape] With Pastel Splatter (NM/NM), $50

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Sketches of Brunswick East // White, 200g (NM/NM) - $275

Rings of Saturn - Ultu Ulla // Blue Electric with Yellow/Purple Splatter, (NM/NM), $45

Dance Gavin Dance - Mothership // Coke Bottle with Doublemint Splatter, (NM/NM), $110

Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice // Clear w/ Purple Splash, (NM/NM), $70

The Used - Lies for the Liars // Pink, (NM/NM), $35

Toro Y Moi - Boo Boo // Blue and White Marbled, (NM/NM), $45

Taking offers on everything else in my collection here: https://www.discogs.com/user/areburgers/collection

Ships from Chicago - media mail w/tracking for $4 each.

For context: I am a bench jeweler/custom jeweler in a small, local shop. We hand fabricate, laser weld, rhodium plate, and do in-house casting and wax-working. I also have my own studio that I work out of for my personal business--no casting or laser welding, but I carve waxes and do all the typical soldering(oxy/prop) and cleaning.

My partner and I are looking to start a family and I was wondering if anyone who has been in the same situation could give me a heads-up for what to expect. Should I stop working in the studio/store at some point or can I work the whole time? Are there certain aspects that I just won't be able to do because of chemicals?

Tim announced it on a recent Patreon episode of his show.

2022 coming in with a boom!

Context 1: Barely anything is known about the Dark Age of Technology (DaOT), and one of the biggest mysteries of the setting revolve around the mysterious Men of Materials: Gold, Stone, and Iron. While we know that the Men of Iron are true AI, such as UR-025, Tabula Myriad, etc, who could probably just download themselves into available chassises at any moment, not much is known about the Men of Stone or Gold.

Context 2: The descriptions of Kron in this short story confirm what we do know about the Men of Stone, and his existence has major ramifications regarding foundational aspects of the lore.

To begin this discussion, we need to clarify just what we actually know about the Men of Materials. While not explicitly stated in any novels or codex, Laurie Golding, an accredited BL author and editor of multiple publications, states that the original vision for the Men of Materials was to have them as three separate transhuman races. Specifically, Alan Meritt, one of the original authors of GW who was with them since the days of Rogue Trader, stated that the Men of Iron were the Machines, the Men of Gold were a genetically engineered master race that came about through selective breeding, while the Men of Stone were a cyborg intelligence. In particular, "the "Stone" part refers to silicon, and are likened to the Thirteenth Tribe from Battlestar Galactica, the original cyclons who left Kobol and began their own civilization". While a lot of this is old lore, just a couple years ago we have the first ever, explicitly confirmed existence of a Man of Iron, UR-025. And since the entire concept of the Men of Materials was introduced as a package deal in the 3rd edition rulebook, UR-025's existence hints that GW didn't softly retconn the entire concept, and the concept of all 3 transhuman races, namely Gold, Stone, and Iron, were still on the table for discussion and will be terms that define the DaOT.

While we have an explicit description of the Men of Iron in the lore, we really don't have such confirmation for the Men of Gold or Stone. However, the short story Ancient History, by Andy Chambers actually provides descriptions of a highly unusual individual that altogether, very strongly hints that he is a Man of Stone. To set the stage, Kron is officially a naval bondsman on the Imperial Battleship Retribution. While he is colloquially referred to as an "old h

Everyone knows about NASCAR's boom in the 1990s, but to Bruton Smith, things were booming a bit too much. While NASCAR is synonymous with controversial decisions in recent times, Smith had some... unique ideas to continue growing the sport.

On January 13, 1998, during the NASCAR Media Tour, Smith declared it was "inevitable" that for Cup Series break up for NASCAR's own good. Yeah, about that...

The proclamation, while ridiculous, wasn't completely out of the blue in an attempt to drum up hype. He had been brewing the idea for a few years, and figures in NASCAR including Bill France Jr. were well aware about his proposal.

1994–1997: What's Bruton Up To This Time?

Whenever any racing series leadership is clashing with teams, it is almost a certainty that rumors circulate about said teams breaking away to form their own series. After all, we've seen it happen before with open-wheel racing via the IRL/CART split and the multiple threats in F1. Heck, there have even been suggestions of Smith's Speedway Motorsports splitting off from NASCAR to create a stock car series themselves.

In 1994, Smith first raised the concept of dividing the Winston Cup Series, but not with nefarious intent. Rather, it was supposedly his way of taking NASCAR to greater heights.

With so many tracks being built throughout the United States at the time to accommodate the rising national popularity, including Smith's own Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR expanded its schedule from 31 races to 32 in 1998. However, France and Smith knew that they could only add so many races at a time, and taking dates from existing venues comes with risks. Some tracks wanted second dates, which only exacerbated the predicament. The possibility of weeknight races was raised to fill the gap, which we would not see intentionally until the temporary race days created in 2020 due to COVID-19, and even that had issues like lower viewership. Smith figured that rather than eliminate dates, why not go in the opposite direction and have twice as many?^[1]

The blueprint was simple: split the Cup Series into two divisions, either geographically with East and West similar to ARCA today (or Busch North and Winston West back then), or American and National akin to the NFL and MLB. With two series, each could visit more tracks in their respective regions. And much like the Super Bowl, World Series, and combination ARCA races, major da

Context 1: We know very few about the DaOT anyways, but the few we do know only paint a very scary picture on what the DaOT can be about

From my previous post, here, that aimed to clarify what the Men of Gold and Stone were, as well as describing a potential Man of Stone, we now have an idea on what the populations of man were like in the original empire of the DaOT. However, the reality was that it was actually a pretty shitty time for a lot of people involved.

As a reminder, the DaOT's population consisted of 3 separate transhuman races of man, these races consist of the Men of Gold, a genetically engineered master race that arose due to certain levels of selective breedinng, the Men of Stone, a race of cybog intelligences specifically called "organic intelligence, created artificially", and the Men of Iron referred to the Abominable Intelligence so infamously known in the setting. But among these 3 baseline humans are assumed to still exist, and they weren't placed at the top of the totem pole. Instead, they were likely at the bottom, alongside the Men of Gold and Men of Iron, with the Men of Stone at the top. This was because of the fact that during the course of human history, the Men of Stone played the most important role in helping man spread across the galaxy and forming the Interstellar empire of the DaOT:

>JOURNAL OF KEEPER CRIPIAS
>
>Dated in the year of our Emperor 993.M41
>
>For seventy long years I have laboured as Master Finnias laboured before me, and Master Shadiel before him, through eight hundred and thirty six generations of Keepers of the Library Sanctus of Terra. It has been our endeavour, our life-long aim, to compile a history of the majesty of the Human Race from the archives which are our worship*. In his benevolent wisdom, the Emperor has granted me the singular and great honour and pleasure of completing this sacred task in my own lifespan.*
>
>Through copious notes and periods of cogitation I have pieced together the history and pre-history of Mankind into the greatest antiquities of time. *Here I have revealed my findings for the first time, for as it was in the time of the First Keeper, Solomon, our knowledge has passed by oratory and not written word. However, in thes

I have a $25K LOC with a 2.45% APR.

I can basically "rent" $5K for $10/mo interest. That $5K invested into an LP's compounded daily could earn around $2K after just one month (assuming JEWEL didn't change in price).

With a proper exit strategy, assuming I don't jump in at the worst possible time, I can sell before I lose my initial $5K.

I have no debts, no savings, in my late 20s, 800+ credit, and worst case scenario if I somehow lost EVERYTHING I can pay it back in 4-5 months, only costing me $40-$50 in interest.

Maybe I'm just a degen but it seems like a no brainer?

With the PC release today, there are a ton of players who are going to be jumping into Rise, after what are likely very lengthy hours in World. While they're similar, there are a few things that World players should know before jumping into Rise. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and is going to be kept mostly general (AKA no huge weapon guides or anything), but it will hopefully help some people know what to expect and get the most out of the game. These are also in no particular order.

1. Bear in mind that Rise was developed for the Switch, and the gameplay design choices very much reflect the ability for the game to be played easily in shorter play sessions that accommodate more portable play. One of the major ways that this comes out is in the length of fights; on average, a fight in Rise will be shorter than a fight in World, coming in at around 10-15 minutes on average for an average player with proper gear. The ability to directly go to the target monster (it will always be the first monster selected when you click the right stick) is another reflection of this.
2. Combat is a lot faster paced in Rise than it is in World.
3. Mounting is completely different in Rise from World. In Rise, it is a minigame where you are intended to attack one monster with another monster and/or slam the monster into the walls multiple times to down it. It's kind of like clutch claw wall slams became the standard mount. Generally, the best thing to do is bring a secondary monster in (if one is not already present and fighting your target) and use that to attack your target, before slamming into it and swapping the mount. You can then attack the other monster for more drops or begin wall slamming. The downs from mounting don't seem to last as long as they did in World.
4. The story in Rise is structured more like older games' than it is World's. There are two separate quest counters, one for Village Quests and one for Hub Quests. Think of Village kind of like a tier below Low Rank, or as an extended tutorial to get the grasp of the game. You advance ranks by completing Key Quests (which will be marked on the quest board), which will unlock an Urgent Quest that must be completed before continuing to the next rank of quests.
5. Village Quests are single player-only, but have a few things locked behind them, so even if you're mostly interested in multi-player, it is still very highly recommended that you do them. If you are a completionist, bear in mind that the

https://preview.redd.it/ihq4qfkp4x881.jpg?width=743&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0881d3b9ca018db29e30a33df52fc807821e63e6

In a previous post I put forth a theory that Elden Ring is the Dark Souls of alchemy, adapting and literalizing concepts and symbols from the Hermetic tradition of alchemy, specifically the magnum opus or Great Work, to form the basis of its world and lore.

The release of the story trailer and recent Edge interview motivated me to revisit these connections and elaborate on my initial theories. The previous post can be found pinned in my profile, but I will recap some of the key points and sum up the additional points below:

The Elden Ring logo can be compared to alchemy-related diagrams such as the Ripley Scroll, which illustrates the achievement of the fabled philosophers’ stone.

• The logo bears a strong resemblance to the Ripley Scroll’s image of a coiled dragon atop a globe (see the previous post for more on this).
• Similarly, the ring of circles pattern seen in the giant’s eye from the Elden Ring gameplay reveal trailer and armor design motifs resembles the Ripley Scroll’s depiction of the philosophers’ stone as a ring of circles.

The player’s journey from lowly Tarnished to golden Lord corresponds to alchemy’s Great Work, where lead is literally or metaphorically turned to gold.

• Just as the culmination of alchemy’s Great Work is the creation of the philosophers’ stone; the successful completion of the Long March could lead to the creation of the Elden Ring.
• I believe Godfrey was the first to make a journey known in Elden Ring’s world as “the Long March.” After uniting with Marika, the Lands Between experienced a time of balance and prosperity governed by the Golden Order.

The “bloody wolf” identity of the Tarnished mirrors that of alchemy’s “grey wolf” (antimony), a “cooperative metal” capable of purifying gold.

• The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine suggests the base material for the magnum opus be a “fierce grey wolf”. It describes a transformation from wolf to lion and ultimately king.

Various sections of the Ripley Scroll seem to correspond to key lore concepts in Elden Ring.

• >!In the recent Edge interview, Miyazaki describes the Elden Ring as “metaphysical” in nature, and says that the circles of the logo “represent the laws of the world, the rules and order.” This fits the scroll’s depiction of the philosopher’s stone as a ring uniting seven key princi

FIRST CHAPTER PREVIOUS CHAPTER

“Are you familiar with the concept of the Forlorn Hope detachment?” Captain Roshal idly asked her Watchkeeper.

“Tangentially, Ma’am.” The stalwart woman replied, eyes fixed firmly on her screen. Roshal approved of that; a Watchkeeper’s position was to, as indicated by the name, watch the screens and data so nothing surprised the Captain. Watchkeeper Sel’va was an older woman, not as old as Captain Roshal, but visibly older than the fresh crew. She survived a boarding by Roach pirates and took over from the previous captain after the previous captain took a laser bolt to the skull, ordering a battle even as she took back control of the bridge, laser pistol in hand. A Lady of Salt and Steel. “Sacrificial forces; mostly drawn from colonial or penal forces.”

Captain Roshal nodded, staring out into the datascreens depicting the battle about to commence. Even with a simulated ship and bridge, there was still that sense of anticipation building in her gut as the shape of the fight began to form. “I believe whoever is coordinating the defenses is intimately familiar with the tactic and intends to use… Runoff flight as their Forlorn Hope.”

There was a pause as the screens shifted and Roshal was given a better view of the sensor data. “So it seems, Ma’am. Sending Runoff 2 through 8 forward as a pack to draw our fire, allowing the others to creep up.”

“Runoff 1?”

“Attempting a lone flank with all hardpoints filled with ASM’s.”

Captain Roshal nodded approvingly. It was a sound tactic, sending your theoretically weaker members forward to blunt the enemy’s advance and force them into a position more advantageous for the defending force. After all, they didn’t have to win, just bleed the Captain’s fleet enough to make her break off the planetary assault.

Captain Roshal simply brought up the targeting commands for a single ship in her fleet. “Which of the defending vessels is sending the most signals?”

“Encrypted or otherwise?”

“Just Broadcasting.” Roshal stated. The Orbital Bombardment Vessel was a gaudy waste of space in her opinion, but if she brought a full and proper warfleet, this wouldn’t be a fair fight. She was supposed to be a rogue Sevastutavan Captain with a salvaged fleet coming to burn some Imperial Jewel because the mission planners had neither tact nor su

Do your worst!

“No, I am not sending off five of our gate guards and escorts out to go after a local predator without any kind of replacements on hand.”

Captain Vii’a Maa’trix stood her ground firmly before the small gathering of her subordinate Red Tempest Mercenaries forming a semi-circle around her, refusing to go along with their last minute plan to avenge a fallen podmate.

“Captain, that thing is still out there, who knows who else it will try to turn into a meal!” a pair of umber skinned Nighkru twins, Krella and Belka, interjected. “This isn’t just about Tenka, but everyone of us who guards the outer wall or works the night shift is in danger!”

“I know," Vii'a sighed. "But I don’t have enough mercenaries to send off at the last minute to either take your places, or go after it for you. I need to make sure that this base is secured at all times, especially now that we have a brig full of angry protestors all demanding to see their lawyers!”

The older cyborg scoffed as she ran her silver robotic hands through her snow white hair before looking to the crew before her. “I mean, do any of you know the first thing about hunting large predators?”

“I do, and I’m very proficient in doing so too.” Ara the lone Rakiri stated, to no one’s surprise.

“I’ve gone on trips with Ara before.” Miztana shrugged, also not much of a surprise considering how close the two were.

“I’ve done some here and there when on leave.” Haelga shrugged, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

“Well, that’s just three out of five, so I don’t think that’s going to work with just-”

“Four out of six.” Gray called out, “I’m still here, Vii’a.”

The group split down the middle and turned towards the voice of the sole male on base, Vii’a staring in a mix of disbelief and alarm.

“Oh, I am absolutely not allowing this!”

“Why?” Gray challenged, stepping through the group to stand off against his ex. “I have experience in hunting big game and large predators since I was big enough to hold a rifle.”

“I don’t care, you’re not going, and that’s an order!” Vii’a snapped, squaring up to the slightly larger Human male.

“With all due respect, Captain, I think this has less to do with needing all hands on deck, and more a conflict of interest.” Gray said cooly, staring down at the gray elf alien, “It’s not because I’m unqualified, you have my file. It’s not because I’m on duty, because today is my scheduled on-base leave. So it just leaves three options: Either because I’m a male, because I’m your ex-boyf

It really does, I swear!

For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.

I said "hey look, an escaPEA"

No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!

Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂

So quite a few people made suggestions for great local restaurants (ie. not chains with locations outside of London). It was a little confusing to read through as there was so many comments and a few great places kept repeating. So I put it all into one clear list. Places listed under Pickup only offer that service. I think everywhere on either delivery service also offer curb-side pickup. If possible, please consider using curb-side pickup as more money goes to the struggling restaurant instead of corporations like skipthedishes. Many people support chains as the name is known. Quite of these places I have never heard of before and have really enjoyed trying new foods the last couple of days. Just thought a list might help other people! If I left some place off the list let me know and I am happy to add it.

Curb-Side Pickup:

• Al Andalus Shawarma (Middle Eastern)

• Black Pearl Pub (Grub)

• Blackfriars Bistro (Fine dining)

• Byron pizza (Pizza)

• David's bistro (French)

• Dem Hai Dang (Vietnamese)

• Garlics (Fine dining)

• Golden city (Chinese)

• IvanoPoblano (Mexican)

• Karoon Restaurant (Persian)

• La Parrillada (Latin)

• London Chinese Restaurant (Chinese)

• Los lobos (Mexican)

• Mai's Café & Bistro (Thai)

• Mexicactus (Mexican)

• Milos (Comfort food)

• Mythic Grill (Greek)

• Olde London (Fish and Chips)

• Papa's Pizza (Pizza)

• Pizzeria Madre (Italian)

• Rob's Wicked Chicken (Fast food)

• Roll roll (Sushi)

• Sagi (Asian fusion)

• Sai Thai Chef (Thai)

• The Church Key (Fine dining)

• The Old South Village Pub (Grub)

• Tuscanos (Italian)

• Twin Dem Kitchen (Jamaican)

• Waldos (Canadian)

• Wolfe Pack Company Bar (Fine dining)

Delivery from Restaurant:

• Bondi's (Pizza)

• Chefs wok (Chinese)

• Chilie's (Sri lanken)

• Craft Farmacy (Farm to Table)

• Dawghouse Pub (American)

• Fireside Grill and Bar (Grub)

• Formaggios Pie Shack (Pizza)

• Frank and Furters (Hot dogs)

• Gnosh (Fine dining)

• Hungry Bear (BBQ)

• Irie Bites (Jamaican)

• Katsu Express (Tonkatsu)

• Leo's pizza (Pizza)

• Little Panda (Chinese)

• Lord Gainsborough (American)

• Marshall's Pasta Mill (Italian)

• Mykonos (Greek)

• Pho 4U (Vietnamese)

• Pho Lee (Vietnamese)

• Piero's Pizzeria (Pizza)

• Quynh Nhi (Vietnamese)

• Richmoor's Pizzeria (Pizza)

• Rico's Pizzeria (Pizza)

• Smokin Joes (BBQ)

• Stobie's (Pizza)

• Stoner's Grub House (Pizza)

• Sushi galore (Asian)

• The Italian House (Pizza)

• Thuân Thành (Vietnamese)

I don’t have a fear of flying; I have a fear of Phil.

Who’s Phil? Phil is the guy who tightens the bolts that hold the wings onto the plane, the critical ones that keep them from ripping off in mid-flight, sending it hurtling to the ground in a pirouette death spiral.

Some time ago, Phil got distracted and left one of those wing bolts about a quarter-less tightened than he should. Normally Phil doesn’t do that; he’s good at his job, takes a lot of pride in it. Maybe he received an ill-timed text from his wife, irritated that he left his wet towel on the bed after his shower. Or one of his work buddies was ribbing him because Phil’s favorite team ate a huge shit sandwich in the big game over the weekend.

Whatever it was, it was enough to make Phil forget to give that bolt one last torque before moving onto the next. Tight enough to pass inspection, but a little too loose to withstand the bumps and vibrations that a plane experiences during takeoffs, landings, and heavy bouts of turbulence. Not just any plane; this plane, the one I was about to get on.

Over time, those vibrations have spun the bolt backwards, working its way out with each shimmy and shudder. By now it’s hanging by its last thread, and one more good hard bump is all it’s going to take before it falls out and-

“ID and ticket, ma’am?”

The TSA Agent’s voice roused me from my Rube Goldberg death scenario.

I had reached the front of the security queue, mentally elsewhere as I worked my way through the line. The Agent’s face scrunched with irritation because I didn't have my ID and ticket ready per the intercom’s instructions. Not following the rules must be a great annoyance to them, enough of a distraction to allow someone with a gun or a knife to slip right on through the line undetect-

“If you don't have your ticket you’ll need to go back to the ticketing kiosk,” the Agent said.

The man behind me exhaled a deep sigh that reeked of black coffee and cigarettes. His rumpled brown suit gave him the look of a life long traveling salesman. Probably wasn’t his first airport of the day, nor would it be his last. He looked like he could sleep through the heaviest of turbulence only to be annoyed when the flight attendant woke him to remind him to fasten his seatbelt.

I stepped aside with a meek “sorry” that no one but me heard. The line reformed behind the frumpy brown-suited businessman with his weathered suitcase filled with brochures for aluminum siding and definitely wasn’t a bomb.

The li

Hey all. Had probably my 30th experience the other night and though I don't think it was the highest dosage I've ingested, something about this time was so vastly different and more real than anything I've ever experienced before.

Bear with me as this is a rather long winded post and though I tried my best to articulate it, much of it is abstract beyond a way of human understanding so I've had to bend my thoughts a bit to shape them into thoughts that can be translated and digested in human language.

It all started with me vaping about 3 good size tokes off of a cartridge I've had for quite a while. I lay back and close my eyes...

Typically, there is an entrance to the experience for me that always seems familiar before it becomes an the infinitely new and unique experience, but this time there was no familiar entry point. it was almost as if I bypassed the entire "waiting room" fractal dimension (or whatever you'd like to call it) completley and shot right into these dark tunnel sort of places.

Within these tunnels I could feel my senses being stripped away from me. The building blocks of my human body deteriorating. As I'm floating through I see golden and other neon glowing nodes and orbs in the distances but I'm on a track I'm in this tunnel, and my self is crumbling.

I'm now a more pure form of simply put, energy. I'm the self that has no body, no identity as we know, and I'm flying about a million miles an hour. Suddenly this gateway appears and it feels as if there are beings sort of guarding it or operating it. It's a golden gate in a dark tunnel. Neon gemstones all over it. It's for me? Its constantly rearranging and moving. It's like a blast door from star wars crossed with some sort of ancient royal ornation. The beings slide out and redirect me toward the gate. This WAS for me. (Or my human self at least)

What happens next is what I could only describe as the ending sequence of my human bodies life. Imagery and symbols pertaining to this life, music I enjoyed, reflections on moments of my past. Reflections on my family and friends. It was a grandiose ending. A 4d slideshow with a trillion slides I could somehow see simultaneously. Like the end of a loony tunes "That's all folks." There was an overwhelming feeling of melancholic acceptance. I was dead. The most magnificent blend of terror and bliss. Like my soul was leaving it behind, thanking my human body and telling him "it's okay, you did a great job. But this is goodbye now.." in th

Rings of Saturn - Ultu Ulla // Blue Electric with Yellow/Purple Splatter, (NM/NM), $65

Dance Gavin Dance - Mothership // Coke Bottle with Doublemint Splatter, (NM/NM), $125

Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice // Clear w/ Purple Splash, (NM/NM), $80

The Used - Lies for the Liars // Pink, (NM/NM), $40

Toro Y Moi - Boo Boo // Blue and White Marbled, (NM/NM), $50

Taking offers on everything else in my collection here: https://www.discogs.com/user/areburgers/collection

Ships from Chicago - media mail w/tracking for $4 each.

Rings of Saturn - Ultu Ulla // Blue Electric with Yellow/Purple Splatter, (NM/NM), $80

Sum 41 - Chuck // Clear, (NM/NM), $70

Dance Gavin Dance - Mothership // Coke Bottle with Doublemint Splatter, (NM/NM), $125

Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice // Clear w/ Purple Splash, (NM/NM), $100

The Used - Lies for the Liars // Pink, (NM/NM), $50

Toro Y Moi - Boo Boo // Blue and White Marbled, (NM/NM), $50

Taking offers on everything else in my collection here: https://www.discogs.com/user/areburgers/collection

Ships from Chicago - media mail w/tracking for $4 each.

FIRST CHAPTER PREVIOUS CHAPTER

“Are you familiar with the concept of the Forlorn Hope detachment?” Captain Roshal idly asked her Watchkeeper.

“Tangentially, Ma’am.” The stalwart woman replied, eyes fixed firmly on her screen. Roshal approved of that; a Watchkeeper’s position was to, as indicated by the name, watch the screens and data so nothing surprised the Captain. Watchkeeper Sel’va was an older woman, not as old as Captain Roshal, but visibly older than the fresh crew. She survived a boarding by Roach pirates and took over from the previous captain after the previous captain took a laser bolt to the skull, ordering a battle even as she took back control of the bridge, laser pistol in hand. A Lady of Salt and Steel. “Sacrificial forces; mostly drawn from colonial or penal forces.”

Captain Roshal nodded, staring out into the datascreens depicting the battle about to commence. Even with a simulated ship and bridge, there was still that sense of anticipation building in her gut as the shape of the fight began to form. “I believe whoever is coordinating the defenses is intimately familiar with the tactic and intends to use… Runoff flight as their Forlorn Hope.”

There was a pause as the screens shifted and Roshal was given a better view of the sensor data. “So it seems, Ma’am. Sending Runoff 2 through 8 forward as a pack to draw our fire, allowing the others to creep up.”

“Runoff 1?”

“Attempting a lone flank with all hardpoints filled with ASM’s.”

Captain Roshal nodded approvingly. It was a sound tactic, sending your theoretically weaker members forward to blunt the enemy’s advance and force them into a position more advantageous for the defending force. After all, they didn’t have to win, just bleed the Captain’s fleet enough to make her break off the planetary assault.

Captain Roshal simply brought up the targeting commands for a single ship in her fleet. “Which of the defending vessels is sending the most signals?”

“Encrypted or otherwise?”

“Just Broadcasting.” Roshal stated. The Orbital Bombardment Vessel was a gaudy waste of space in her opinion, but if she brought a full and proper warfleet, this wouldn’t be a fair fight. She was supposed to be a rogue Sevastutavan Captain with a salvaged fleet coming to burn some Imperial Jewel because the mission planners had neither t