My fiance heated up his chemicals to get ready to develop while he went to the camera store to get his film retrieved (the camera wound it up far enough the leader went in too), and is stuck in traffic. the chemicals have been hot for 2 hours already and he might be gone for 2 more hours since he lives far from the city.

This little piece I wrote because I have zero mental energy to write something I care too much aobut the format and quality, and i've been wanting to have a look at this topic for a while.
Don't expect a lot of quality, but here have a thing.
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[This video is shown in its raw form for purposes of transparency of the procedures. For the edited version please visit the Emergency Services Guild public-facing site]
[Content Warning: This video contains images of both stampedes and wartime stampede incidents of the following situations: Human First Contact, Operation Blindside, Sillis Occupation, Kolshian Scouting of Venlil Prime]
[This video will be subtitled instead of utilizing audio translation]
The camera’s view is completely obscured by a grey mass “I think it’s running, can you check it for me?” says a deep bassy voice of a human.
“Yes, i’m getting the audio and a very good closeup for your shirt” the voice of a venlil sounds hoarse
The grey mass recedes and the room becomes visible. A large naturally-lit room of plain appearance, there is a long table set in the center of it surrounded by chairs, the table itself is clearly designed with a holographic projector and at the far end of the room there is a large display.
There are seven people present, three humans dressed in grey outfits with red highlights, each one of them with a different insignia emblazoned on their breast but all three of them have similar themes, a helmet, an axe and a ladder is present on all three designs. Four venlil represent, two with sashes of office with the white with red stripe color and the exterminator’s pyre-and-shield insignia and two with armbands with the red pawprint.
“Alright, before we start the actual meeting, can I ask why are they here?” says one of the humans, well-built and with a lighter complexion, pointing at the two venlil with sashes.
“Because it’s part of our job? Because we’re involved?” says the one with greyish wool and dark spots
“I’m sorry if i’m skeptical why an exterminator is in a meeting involving public safety and stampede response”
“Because” the venlil’s voice becomes louder “It’s our job. And I’m already brahking tired of this whole act. I’ve heard every variation of ‘you shouldn’t be the ones doing this’ you can imagine. Every human I’ve met has said this, multiple times” he slams his fists on the table
“And I brahking agree, look!” he points at one of the venlil with the armbands “Our jobs literally overlap, why do we even HAVE this overlap? What could the exterminator’s guild do in a stampede that the emergency services guild couldn’t? Why is it that any job that requires you to have the slightest bit of tail to do it they drop on us? I don’t brahking know!” he’s taking deep breaths “So… Why don’t we skip this part and just get to the meeting?”
The humans are taken aback, while it seems like the venlil were quite unfazed at the sudden energetic outburst in a strange reversal of the usual reactions. “Not… Quite what I was expecting” that first human adds “Alright, I’ll keep my thoughts to myself for now”
With that, the human that had been adjusting the camera sits down and the arrangement of seating is visible clearly: The four venlil are on one side of the table while the three humans are on the other. One of the venlil with the armbands speaks up “We are gathered at this moment for a presentation of the United Nations’ Extraplanetary Emergency Response Division’s research on the nature and possible mitigation of stampedes”
“Present for this meeting are three human representatives of the UNEERD, Captain Fabia” a human female with short crimson hair and wiry build nods “Captain Jorge” the first human nods “And Captain Ishikawa” a human much taller human with shortly cut dark hair and mildly reddened skin speaking of a disagreement with the eternal twilight nods.
“Present are also four venlil representatives. Representing the Exterminator’s Guild are Division Lead Toss” the venlil who had the outburst earlier nods “Of the Stampede Response division, Division Lead Tunam” a venlil with a strangely reddish coat halfway between pink and red nods “Of the Behavioral Studies division” the speaking venlil himself, best identified by an eyepatch on his right eye, nods “Representing the Emergency Services Guild is me, Division Lead Onam of the Stampede Response division, and Division Lead Liram” the venlil beside him nods, a woman with a distinctive vertical striping pattern “Of the Medical Response division.”
Onam takes a deep breath “You may begin the presentation, Captain Jorge” he’s being incredibly professional
With that, Jorge uses a holopad to summon an image on the monitor at the far end, a simple bullet point list “Though all present here already know, I’ll state it for the record. The ESG has requested from the UNEERD an independent study of mitigating techniques for stampede events, both to help us increase our understanding of the local needs and to acquire an outside perspective that may improve their own understanding”
“We will be presenting our current findings, which have proven to be pretty surprising in my opinion” he gives another command to his holopad moving to the next slide “I’ll begin with the most important finding before we look into how we’ve reached this conclusion. But in effect, a proper stampede event can actually severely reduce to completely eliminate casualties in a situation of panic, however, those events can devolve into panicked flight as well as not every species is capable of those”
At that, Toss tilts his head to the side “Of all things… Stampedes preventing casualties? That’s really difficult to believe”
Ishikawa offers a shrug “I know. I’ll be honest we kind of came into this with, let’s say… A bit of a bias against you. But the observations held true, and it turns out the situation is considerably more complex than it seems”
Jorge nods “Take note this is mostly a preliminary study, we don’t have a lot of data of the sort we needed.” he pulls up another bullet list in the screen “Our work was focused more on the behavioral end, as you’ve more than proven to have the infrastructure and technical superiority here, but we have found a distinct lack of behavioral studies on stampedes”
Tunam takes a deep breath “Sure. More stuff we got wrong, as always” but before one of the humans can say something he waves dismissively with his tail “It’s alright, you’re just doing your job. It just gets exhausting hearing this every damn paw. Sorry for the interruption, please continue”
Jorge has a look on his face for a moment, something like worry and sympathy, before continuing “We have performed our studies by examining footage of stampede events with specific characteristics. First, monospecies events, with three examples. The stampede events during our first contact, as a sample of stampede events amongst the Venlil, recovered footage of an event in the Cradle during Operation Blindside, as a sample of stampede events amongst the Gojid. Take note that while this particular footage was from a situation far from any attack sites and before the arxur invasion, the reliability of it is shaky because of the wartime situation. And a stampede event on Sillis that happened recently in response to peacekeeper forces”
As he talks, three of the bullet points light up “Additionally, we later compared stampede events involving multispecies groupings. Particularly we have studied the very recent events here on Venlil Prime during the kolshian threat as well as a second event that occurred on Sillis involving a damaged dam” the last two bullet points light up
The female firefighter pipes up “We’re going to treat you like adults here but early warning we’re not going to be censoring any of the footage. I imagine given you all work with this there shouldn’t be anything you’re not familiar with”
The one-eyed venlil makes an assentive motion with his ears “Sadly, we’ve all seen enough of the carnage to be used to it”
Jorge moves on to the next slide, which contains video. He passes the holopad off to the human woman at his side “Your turn, Fabia”
She nods “We’ll start by examining this footage of the first contact. First tell me if there’s anything unusual you notice here” she says, letting the footage play. It’s an aggregation of a few different cameras, apparently from residential apartments. It shows the residents, all Venlil, running away from their apartments and spilling over in the streets, the residents of each apartment building start running towards where presumably the nearest bunker is. It only takes a few moments before they start pushing each other out of the way and the ones at the fringes of the herd end up unable to follow the group as the ever-growing mass of people start to push them against the walls of the buildings and side streets, a little while longer the first tramplings start to happen.
Tunam has had a very careful eye on the footage “This looks like a textbook case of a stampede. Nothing particular to it” he flicks his ear to the side
Taking the sign, Toss adds in “Dreadful, as always, but not even the worst example I’ve seen”
Onam sighs “I remember that one. Wouldn’t want to be those two knowing all of this was caused by them. But still, a pretty normal stampede, if anything a mild one”
Liram makes a dismissive wave of her tail “Didn’t even manage to overflow the hospitals, so i’m calling that one a win”
The sunburnt human bites his lower lip, trying to keep something inside. But ultimately it spills over “How bad is it for those kinds of responses?” it’s not so much an accusatory tone as much as a sad one.
“Very” is the only answer Onam gives.
At that, Fabia waves “And here is where a human, or more specifically outsider perspective helped.” she presses a couple of controls in the holopad, rewinding the footage to the start “I want you to pay attention to how this particular herd moves, just the one from the beginning of the video”
The footage plays again, showing the residents of the apartments rushing out, most take the stairs while a few take the elevators. There’s parents carrying their pups and some elderly being rushed along. The footage switches to the outside view where the whole herd of venlil from the apartment seems to erupt out of the front doors at the same time, it follows them for a bit until they’re closer to another group leaving their residence before Fabia pauses “Here’s where we noticed something, how much panic do you see in here?”
It’s Tunam’s turn to respond “Normal levels, i’d say, nothing out of ordinary. Which, they were expecting a raid or worse, so keep that in mind.”
Fabia nods “And that’s why the difference is important. Pay attention to their movement” she rewinds to the moment where they’re leaving the apartment building “Pay close attention to their feet” she zooms the video
The four venlil focus on it, seemingly unable to see what is happening “It takes humans at least months of training to be able to do this. They’re all moving in perfect synchrony” she rewinds one more time, and with the information out there it’s clear that at this point, this herd’s footsteps are moving in perfect lockstep “And I have severe doubts those people have any sort of training”
Onam turns his one good eye towards Fabia, then back at the footage, then back at Fabia “That… Yes, I can see that. But that has to be a fluke, if that is true then we wouldn’t have tramplings”
In response, Fabia changes footage. It shows a different apartment building, but the contents are similar: Up until the herd is a good distance away from the building their movement is synchronous and even the exit, though clearly panicked, seems to flow without injury. She shows footage from three more apartments “We thought that too, but this pattern repeats every time. This is a level of instinctive organization that’s, to me, supernatural. But at some point it breaks down”
The medical lead had his eyes closed in thought for a while now “That… Now that you say that… Stampede injuries are always outside. Well, no, not always of course. But less than twelve percent of them happen inside buildings, the vast majority happens on the streets”
The human woman passes the datapad aside, Ishikawa picks it up and calls up the footage again. It’s the same as the initial one, but it shows two herds approaching “And here’s where it breaks down. Look” he plays it as everyone pays much closer attention to the details of the video. The two different herds simply crash into each other, causing people to fall over and the two previously-synchronized groups to fall completely out of order.
Tunam’s tail swipes a short arc forwards “Ah, I see. Each herd is acting like a single unit at that point, so this situation is like two people running into each other. Now they’re on the floor and confused” he stares as the footage continues, and what was two groups ends up splitting into four completely disorganized groups “And the herds are unable to reform after that”
“This is where i’m going to introduce some specific terms we’re using here” Ishikawa adds “Specifically we’re referring to the organized movement portion as a ‘stampede’ proper. The situation where everything breaks down and they are completely disorganized we’re referring to as ‘panicked flight’, much how it is for us humans. And this specific situation that caused the breakdown of the stampede we’re calling an ‘impact’ event, given it was two herds impacting against each other”
Ishikawa then changes to a different piece of footage “And this will be the second breakdown situation we’ve recognized, a ‘command failure’ event.” he starts the footage, it’s a proper stampede, the video is from a camera on a defensive bunker proper, the masses trying to get inside are visible at the bottom of the image. Something happens in the incoming stampede, it slows down a little bit, before suddenly the back half overtakes the front half, tossing people into the ground.
“Notice how the approaching herd seems to be behaving as we’ve initially expected, even going so far as slowing down to prevent from barrelling into the people waiting to enter the bunker” he adds, before rewinding to just before the breakdown and zooming the video “But notice here, at some point those two start having a discussion while they run” the video is zoomed on a pair of venlil who seem to be shouting, though the video has no audio “Shortly after, the entire formation breaks and the rear speeds up, trampling the front”
The crimson venlil adds “They were following the one on the right…” he has a certain tone of awe on his voice “They all had their attention trained on him”
At that the female firefighter makes a questioning noise “How’d you figure that out?”
Tunam does a quick sideways flick of his ears in a dismissal move “I guess you don’t know how to see where we’re focusing our attention on when we don’t have to turn our entire heads for it. But pay attention to the ears, when they’re completely upright to take in sound they’ll be tracking whoever the focus is. As you can see, they were all focusing on the one on the right, which was the one being yelled at” he focuses on the now still image for a while “You can see he has his tail in his hands, while the one yelling at him has his chest first ruffled out.” his eye seems to focus beyond the image now “This herd didn’t break down because of another, but they lost guidance, is that it?”
Jorge sighs, but he has a slight smile “See, I told you it’d be wise to have at least one venlil in our team. Just from being able to read their body language he skipped past two weeks of comparisons”
Ishikawa gives a light sigh “But that’s correct. This is a ‘command failure’ situation. We’ve noticed that in every stampede there seems to be someone that works at least as pace setting, if not straight up herd leader. It seemed in cases to mostly be arbitrary, but once someone got in that position everyone would follow that one”
Jorge picks up the holopad again “Next up” the screen changes again, it’s another video that is quite clearly not on Venlil Prime “This one happened during peacekeeping operations on Sillis…” there’s a certain inflection of disgust in the human’s voice as he mentions ‘peacekeeping’ “You probably already know what to expect but I want you to focus on the differences here”
The video that plays out starts with what seems like a protest in front of a UN field base, the recording is from the body cam of a soldier on top of a watchtower. There’s a moderate mass of tilfish with all sorts of signs, there’s shouting. The camera turns to show an APC get close to the mass from inside the base, there’s shouting from the human guards but nothing happens, until the APC revs up its engine heavily. At the angry roar of the vehicle the protesters started to bolt, four large groups forming in different directions.
The camera follows one such group as it starts heading off down a street, unlike the venlil stampedes this one starts from moment zero with trampling and people moving into each other. At some point it’s visible someone at the middle of the formation seems to hesitate and slow down, causing the entire mass to slow down for a moment, and then someone else near the slower raises their arms. At this point this is too far from the soldier’s body camera to catch noise, but what seems to be a discussion has happened, and suddenly the stampede speeds up and the scene that follows gets considerably worse as the mass turns into a tangle of limbs cross across eachother and tearing itself apart as they try to move in the same general direction.
“It started bad” says Toss “But it got worse. I’ve never seen a stampede get worse like that”
Onam puts his tail on the table, tapping the surface gently with it “It happens as it grows in size but this group didn’t change. That did seem like a command failure situation causing it to get even worse, yes, but they seemed to already be very out of sync from the start”
The human with the holopad nods “And that’s the biggest failure of your treatment of stampedes showing itself.” he rewinds the video to when the APC starts roaring “And honestly, we were stuck on that failure mode for a while too until one of the younger members of our team spoke their mind. Pay closer attention to the amount of damage that is happening during the stampede here” they all lean closer as they watch the start again “How many wounds are you seeing?”
It’s the one-eyed venlil that answers “None… They’re not trampling eachther, they’re climbing each other, and walking under the others, somehow without hurting themselves?” his voice has a definite awe to it.
Jorge nods “Yep. Tilfish, both from their body plan and however way their kinesthetic sense works, appear to be fully capable of moving over, through and under each other like they weren’t even there. That seems to be pretty unique to their species”
It’s the red furred venlil that comments now “But they lose that coordination when the command failure happens, so they start to miss their movements and now we have limbs tangled on themselves and tearing themselves apart”
“Comparing medical reports from this with medical reports from the first incident with just venlil” starts the female firefighter “We see different wound patterns. A monospecies panicked flight of tilfish will lead primarily to damaged and removed limbs while one of venlil will lead to crushing wounds. Because your herd movement patterns and capacities are different, when the stampede fails into panicked flight the wounds are different”
Liram tilts her head to the side “That’s what you meant. We… Speh, the entire federation, has been treating stampedes like they behave the same for every species” her tail swats left to right for a while with an excessive amount of force “But this makes sense. And I presume you have an example of a species that doesn’t stampede up next, right?”
Jorge nods, moving to the next video. It shows a wide, long street “This one was recovered from the Cradle, this happens during the strikes on the orbital defenses but before the first orbital drop. Meaning, long before any ground operation starts” the video is sped up considerably at the start, the trickle of gojid into the streets is slow as to require that, but the flows from the buildings and side streets slowly thicken as more and more people start fleeing away from the camera’s direction. The mass that forms is enormous, taking up the entire street, and to flows and moves as if it wasn’t a mass of people, not even like a mass of animals, but it flows like a river, like it ceased to contain living beings and it now contained fluid particles.
Tunam, whose expression has been growing more and more serious by the moment, initiates “I… I’ve never seen a stampede like… It really shows the difference seeing the comparison, here we didn’t have groups forming at exit points and leaving, we have a slow trickle until the mass of people is…”
Ishikawa nods “Until the mass of people starts behaving like a fluid, completely detached from the will of the people inside of it” he puts his elbows in the table “Very much how it works with humans. At that point, you just need to let the flow move you and hope for the best, while trying to keep yourself safe”
Jorge zooms in the image, which appears to be sufficiently high quality to get detailed images of any particular member of the mass “You can even see the measures they take to prevent harming themselves” he directs the zoom to an area where you see the gojid have somehow arranged themselves back-to-back and front-to-front as they’re pushed and shoved, trying to avoid harming themselves on each other. It’s visible, however, they have no control over the motions as they’re simply being moved by the mass. One unlucky woman trying to hold on to some form of backpack gets pulled under the mass of bodies by the article. Most gojid seem to be taking conscious effort to keep their quills from flaring out, but many are failing and some trickle of blue can be seen on some backs
“Of course” the zoomed out area directs to a different section while zooming out “This is neither instinctual nor organized, as you can see the vast majority of the cases are like… This…” the best description of the moving mass of very sharp people being dislocated by nothing but panic and fluid forces is… A meat grinder. There’s more blue than brown visible and the speed with which the human moves the video elsewhere is quite indicative of how none of the present trained emergency workers had the stomach to witness it.
Liram has stood up “By the void… But- But- There’s gojid population on this planet! I’ve never seen anything like this when they’re involved!” there’s straight up panic in her voice.
With a command, Jorge moves on to the next slide “And that segues well into the next topic of research, multispecies stampedes” there’s a still image of a large street in the capital, mostly empty at this point “As you can imagine there’s behavioral differences in multispecies situations”
Jorge passes the holopad over to Ishikawa “This one is pretty recent, hell I still remember it myself. The kolshian probing attack” the video starts, and for a few seconds the slow foot traffic of the mostly empty street seems undeterred. Then, most everyone still walking the streets, which here in the capital means a variety of species from venlil and human to takkan and iftali, picks up their holopads at once. And with different degrees of urgency and reading speed, they start running.
Nothing seems to progress further than that other than people entering buildings, but after a while longer it happens, groups start leaving the buildings in large herds “As you can see” Ishikawa pauses “We see them exiting buildings in large groups, just as the stampeding species do” he let it play again. Just like in the first two videos the large groups seem to be moving roughly in coordination within themselves, but it seems to be a much more frail kind of coordination as the group’s form changes and shifts as the people inside adjust their position.
Ishikawa zooms into one of the groups “Here, check their movement” it’s visible that only a portion of them is moving in actual synchrony, the venlil as well as a pair of sulean and three krakotl seem to be moving very much in lockstep, and one human who seems to be acting as a leader as she points and shouts. Meanwhile the other humans, two takkan and a gojid aren’t moving quite in synchrony but seem capable of keeping themselves in formation thanks to the others around them. “Here we see the effect of a mixed species setting. The stampeding species manage to give enough structure to the group that the others can follow”
Tunam is staring intensely at the video “But that’s a very fragile configuration, isn’t it? The ones organizing on instinctive drive can’t possibly keep this much structure for long? Without training this is going to break down quickly”
Ishikawa nods “That’s what we thought as well but…” he lets the video play, and they watch that mass of bodies continue to move mostly organized down the street. At some point another equally mixed group starts approaching from the side, but one of the takkan appears to start shouting. But instead of things breaking down, what happens is that both groups merge together, there’s some minor bodily impacts but from the visible motions of the group there’s some shared apologies and they continue moving at a slower speed, matching the speed of the second group “That doesn’t happen, the whole situation is even more stable”
The video continues for a while, and Ishikawa zooms to the front of the formation. The human who’d been the apparent leader taps rather violently a venlil on the shoulder. There apparently seems to be a verbal altercation, but both give each other affirmative visual cues and the venlil speeds up a little bit. And the rest of the herd matches pace as the group changes direction to another street “And this is a smooth change of command, presumably the human that’d been the unofficial lead figured out who knew the shortest path to the bunker and they’ve began following him instead”
The crimson venlil sinks down in his chair “That’s… I’ve never seen a stampede move quite like that, even multispecies ones. It has to be you…”
“Much as i’d love to give us all the credit” Jorge starts “I don’t quite think it is. Or rather, it’s not something i’d say is inherently human. If it was, once that group changed command they’d break down, or it wouldn’t be able to merge that easily with a takkan mediating. No, I think it was just those specific humans being able to keep their cool that helped it.”
He looks at Tunam for a half second before continuing “Everyone else seems to be… Very prone to panicking quickly. And while we’re just as prone to panic we don’t seem to get there as fast as the others. For some reason. Keeping a bit of a calmer head allows the prevention of command failures and the overall effect of reducing the panic level in a herd enough that any member present has enough wits to negotiate through an impact as well”
Upon noticing Tunam’s souring expression, Ishikawa gives the pad another command to move on to the next video “To give a bit more context to an important part of the behavior we’re analyzing here, we have this one footage of what is essentially a stampede event, but not one most people would recognize as such”
It seems to be footage of Sillis again, most obvious by the number of tilfish present. The footage is from a cargo hauling drone in a work site by a river at the bottom of a dam. There are a handful of humans, a half dozen venlil and a gojid all wearing construction uniforms identifying them as part of one of the UN relief forces, the various tilfish around are also wearing bright construction vests and protective gear and with the exception of two of them, they seem to be trying their best to stay away from the others. Suddenly, the gojid who’s near the river looks down at his feet, then starts running away shouting. At that everyone other than the tilfish start running as well, the group slows down for a moment as the tilfish workers run towards the group and they all continue together up a hill. A few seconds after they crest the hill there’s suddenly water in the worksite as the dam cracks and collapses. The group stops at the top of the hill, and quickly they’ve brought up holopads to start doing damage assessment as a few head closer to the rushing waters.
“This, as you can see, looks nothing like what you expect out of a stampede. We’ve interviewed those workers remotely to get a better grasp of what happened” Fabia adds “Thanks to their sensitivity to ground vibrations, the gojid worker caught the dam’s damage early and called for the others to run, which caused the work crew to evacuate to higher ground.” she waves at Ishikawa, who rewinds the video and zooms on the group as it runs “As you can see, we have the organized movement of a stampede proper” and known his cue he skips ahead to the group on top of the hill “And they stopped quickly, as well.
The human with reddened skin rewinds the video again to show the moment the group slows down “And here’s the particular detail I want you to pay attention to. Notice the group formed when the gojid called out the emergency, but only two tilfish joined it. The two that were already talking with the UN forces”
Onam tilts his head, clearly in thought as his blind eye is facing the screen now “You’re saying there’s an influence of familiarity?”
In answer, Ishikawa shakes his head in negative “Yes and no, we believe this is an effect of threat-assessment. The two that trusted the veracity of the information about the danger moved as quickly as the rest of the herd, which had managed to form thanks to the presence of the venlil and tilfish. Only after the other tilfish recognized those two did they start moving”
“And the whole group slowed down for them, without breaking apart” the crimson venlil adds “This is very much not anything we’d consider a stampede, however as you said the synchronized movement happens and they even managed to clear through the obstacles in a surprisingly safe manner on the way out”
Jorge picks up the holopad again and moves on to the next slide “So to sum up our theories. Certain species have an innate capacity of large-numbers collective movement, what we call a stampede is simply that natural capacity displaying itself during mass flight. That capacity can be harnessed to reduce casualties of panicked flight by giving the moving group an organized form, but only as long as the organization can be sustained. This mass movement capacity also applies to situations where other species would still perform in an organized fashion, but its instinctive nature severely speeds up the process.”
Before he can continue, however, Tunam mutters a little too loudly “But the results you’re going to give us are going to be the same brahking thing as always”
Jorge ignores the muttering “To begin with we’re going to suggest a system similar to the fire brigades we have on Earth. Essentially, any group large enough, such as a company or an apartment building, needs to have a handful of people with some training in emergency procedures for fire escape, so they can guide the rest of the people.”
Ishikawa intrudes “And in countries with higher seismic activities like mine, those procedures also include how to deal with earthquakes for example”
Jorge nods, and takes a deep breath “Look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Your threat-assessment skills are horrible, for some reason- No, I think for reasons we’re all acquainted well enough by now, you’re all very likely to jump at shadows, far more than you should. However, your flight responses are part of your nature, trying to fight your nature never, ever works, you always have to work with it.” he’s staring directly at Tunam, who has met his stare with his right eye “So the primary suggestion is to introduce a form of ‘emergency herd lead’ training in organizations so that we’re certain there are individuals capable of keeping command and a lower baseline of chaos during a stampede event as well as further research into better methods of performing such a function”
Tunam doesn’t flinch from the stare “Come on, say it”
“No. As much as I’d love to say something like what you think I will, I’ll be honest. You guys expect to face orbital bombardment threats with enough frequency that civilian bunkers are part of city planning. Not a human alive today could imagine living in this nightmare their entire lives, I’m going to give you some credit here. Plus, in real threat situations as seen in the last video, you have very beneficial threat responses.” Jorge adds
Jorge waits for a few moments, then continues “That concludes the presentation of the early findings and initial measures we’ve identified. It should be noted that this topic will require much further research, preferably from a multidisciplinary group with representatives of multiple species. Though those findings may be applicable at the present our suggestion is that any action taken at this moment be only provisional and on an experimental level until further research can be made”
Onam stands up “Very well, with that I declare the meeting concluded” he takes in a deep breath and sits back down, making an annoyed sound with his voice as he swats his tail to the side “What is it about you humans that you could see all those things?”
Fabia shrugs, sitting more relaxed in her chair “I don’t think it’s something special, we’re just outsiders with a different perspective.”
A loud screeching noise can be heard, and as everyone turns to face Tunam the source of the noise is visible as the hand he had on the table had dug its claws into it “It’s not like we haven’t found out those things before, isn’t it?” he doesn’t seem to be directing his words to anyone in particular
The one-eyed venlil tilts his head to the side “We did have that work group almost fifteen cycles ago. I remember they were considering a suggestion like what we just had right now, but the work group never went anywhere and we never got any real results”
Tunam stands up suddenly, sending his chair scattering “One more to the list I guess…” there’s a tiredness to his voice “I should figure out where they wound up…” he turns around and goes to leave “We’re done here, yes? I should go” and stalks out.
The remaining people in the room look at his exit confusedly, as Ishikawa comes over to turn off the camera the others can be seen leaving.

My current car is a 2020 Tesla Model 3 Long Range with Autopilot and FSD. I want to compare Autopilot to PILOT ASSIST. I mostly drive in Los Angeles and Orange County in California.

1. One of my biggest with Autopilot problems is the Lane Centering (aka Auto-Steer); cars in the lane next to me sometimes decide to drive on the lane markings and every time I turn the steering wheel slightly to the left or right to get away from them the "Auto-Steer" turns off and I have to re-engage it to get my car to stay in its lane automatically. Would PILOT ASSIST turn off if I turned the steering wheel to adjust my position in my lane?
   
2. My Tesla's Autopilot will not turn on in all situations. For example if I'm waiting on a freeway on-ramp it will not turn on because it can't clearly see the lane markings. Will PILOT ASSIST turn on in all situations?
   
3. Tesla has a lot of annoying sounds when you make any maneuvers it disagrees with, these are a huge distraction. Does PILOT ASSIST have loud distracting alerts every time you do something like going through a large intersection where there are no cars in front of you?
   
4. Does PILOT ASSIST steer the car at low speeds, like in 3 mph bumper to bumper Los Angeles traffic?
   
5. Does PILOT ASSIST randomly turn itself off?
   
6. On my Tesla when it asks me to apply steering pressure to show I'm still driving usually it takes a bit of turning to get it to recognize my turning and if I turn too hard Auto-Steer will disengage. Although, instead of turning I can also turn the column key on my steering wheel to show I'm paying attention. Does PILOT ASSIST require a lot of turning pressure to register that I'm paying attention, and can I use the volume key instead of turning the wheel?
   
7. Can PILOT ASSIST stop for red lights and Stop signs?
   
8. Tesla's Autopilot stops for green lights, red lights, and stop signs. Does PILOT ASSIST stop for green lights?
   
9. When I signal to change lanes will a camera show me the lane next to me, Honda and Tesla have this feature.
   
10. Can PILOT ASSIST change lanes for me or do I have to change lanes manually?
    
11. Will PILOT ASSIST alert me when my exit is coming up and recommend I change lanes? Can it detect which lanes I'm driving in and alert me to which lanes I should be driving in so I don't miss my exit?
    
12. Unrelated to PILOT ASSIST, how is the ride comfort, temperature control, and road noise on the S60? My Tesla has horrible suspension, I can feel every little hole in road and the car will swing me around whenever I make a turn. Also, road noise and wind noise are horrible, I can't even listen to music because all I hear is my tires riding on the asphalt. Tesla also isn't well insulated and if it's hot outside I'll have to put the A/C on full blast to stay cool, if it's cold outside I will freeze my butt off even with the heater on full blast.
    

I hear this all the time. is always full of bad drivers who try to save 10 seconds. They would either run yellow lights, never stop at a stop sign, always right turn a red light without checking pedestrians, go 10 km/h over speed limit, etc. All to save like maybe a minute max of their commute.
Extrinsically, if we enforced stricter traffic laws, red light/speed cameras, harder licensing, etc we could solve some of the bad driving behavior. However, it's not always easy to get police present at every major intersection. What about intrinsically? How can we get drivers to stop being in such a hurry? How do EU countries handle this?

I lost a small roll of camera film at the Heathrow Airport and the Terminal 3 lost and found is holding onto it. They are charging me a whopping 120 GBP to ship it to my house... for a $20 USD roll of film. I am hoping someone who is flying into Seattle from Heathrow--whether it's for a layover or visiting--can do me a huge favor and pickup and deliver the film to me.
I will certainly pay you for your services--we can discuss a fair payment.

This revolves around Minnesota Legislature authorizing study of speed cameras (https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/mn-legislature-authorizes-study-of-speed-cameras/)
I want to start out by saying that I hate the people who go 80+, who weave in and out of traffic just to go faster, who tailgate. I have driven in California, Arizona, Detroit and a lot of other states (~40) and I will say that the majority of Minnesota drivers aren't too bad with driving.
The problem is that I hate the speed cameras, but what it is underneath that hate is me being hurt. I am hurt that the legislature wants to check to make sure I am not breaking the law, when law enforcement doesn't appear to have any checks on its power. Let me talk about that.
I was ashamed of what I saw when a Minneapolis Police office Derek Chauvin keeled on the neck of George Floyd. I saw that video once, and I never need to see it again because I still remember seeing it.
I was ashamed when I saw Minnesota State Troopers attempt to arrest a CNN reporter (while he was broadcasting live).
I was ashamed when I saw law enforcement shoot Minneapolis residents on their porch (you know the video).
I was ashamed when I saw law enforcement mace a journalist on the ground even though he identified (and had clear badging) as a journalist.
I grew up in a small town in the suburbs of Minnesota and I never had to interact with the police (thankfully). I genuinely through of law enforcement as trying their best to do good. But these things have made me question everything.
How can I just trust law enforcement to use speed cameras without abusing speed cameras? Some people will say that well it will lower law enforcement budget. Bullshit. Law enforcement officers will still want the same budget which expands to catch more criminals because "crimes" are going up! But it is the speed cameras. I don't trust that law enforcement won't just set the maximum on the speed cameras to be 5 mph less than the posted speed limit and all of a sudden you get a ticket in the mail, and it won't just be one or two people it will be hundreds of people who have to call into an already exhausted government to fight this. All the while hearing, "well if you just didn't speed."
How about the one offs? Say someone is going 50 in a 55, then they slow down to 45 for no reason that you can see since you are behind them. Then they get down to 40. All the while other cars are passing. So you go to pass and they speed up to go 53, so you have to pass them at 60. Click, you just got a ticket!
I have lived in Arizona and while there they had speed cameras. It wasn't that I was doing something illegal, but I was always scared about them. I am in the technology field and I know how many times things go wrong. With speed cameras that "going wrong" can happen multiple times, and it is repeatable!
Here is the police report from the George Floyd murder. Do you honestly trust a word out of any Minnesota police departments lips? At this time, I certainly don't.

“Two officers arrived and located the suspect, a male believed to be in his 40s, in his car. He was ordered to step from his car. After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance where he died a short time later.” - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/20/how-first-statement-minneapolis-police-made-george-floyds-murder-seem-like-george-floyds-fault/

I can never trust Minnesota law enforcement until I know that everyone I just mentioned (attacking journalists and fellow citizens) is punished and charged for attacking unarmed journalists. The last state of the union that Governor Walz gave both sides of the aisle stood up when he thanked law enforcement. There isn't much checks and balances there.
So if these speed cameras keep me following the law (punishing those who try to stay in the speed limit, or are manipulated to increase the state coffers) what the hell is keeping law enforcement from following the law?
Rules for me, not for thee.

I lost a small roll of camera film at the Heathrow Airport and the lost and found is holding onto it. They are charging me a whopping 120 GBP to ship it to my house... for a $20 roll of film. I am hoping someone who is flying into Seattle from Heathrow can do me a huge favor and pickup and deliver the film to me.
I will certainly pay you for your services--we can discuss a fair payment.

I ran a red light driving at one of the intersections that go into the mall between HWY 7 & Bullock and HWY 7 & McCowan. I know they have cameras on top but from what I know they are just traffic monitoring cameras. I wasn't pulled over and thankfully no one was hurt. Will I get a fine for this? Does anyone know if there are any red light cameras between Bullock and McCowan if you go down on HWY 7?

After the opening week of Marymoor Live with The National on Sunday and The Yeah Yeah Yeah's on Wednesday, the reviews are in.
Freaking amazing!!
Arrive early as the traffic jam can be a pain. Leave Seattle before 6PM if you want to see the opener!
Show will end by precisely 10PM.
The food and drink curation is on-point! Plan to have dinner at one of the food trucks. The beer and wine selections are all extremely good. Treat yo' self!
If you want a grass spot, arrive early as they fill quickly. This venue is funny in that it's easier to get a spot on the floor up close than to get a grassy spot in the back. You can roll up after the main act starts and get a decent floor spot but grass is full before the opener goes on.
I can't wait for the rest of the season! Les Claypool! Big Thief! X! What are your favorites?

I recently got a message for a challan I received back in April, the message came after 2 months and earlier I had no idea the challan even existed, it was automatically caught by cctv camera.
I am a law abiding citizen and follow traffic rules. The challan is for jumping a red light but since this occured a month ago I do not recall the incident, moreover I never jump traffic lights so I am not sure about this incident but the outstanding amount is 0 rupees.
Should I be worried? should I go to pay this challan or talk with an official about this? or should I just leave it be since the amount is 0 rupees.

First/Previous
As the first rays of morning light peeked through the tattered blinds, Jack slowly opened his eyes, groaning slightly as he rolled out of bed on reflex and began his pushups. Lowering himself down and pressing himself up again like it was second nature to him, Jack slowly woke up and took stock. He felt a little more relaxed and well rested than normal, an unusual but welcome change from the nightmares and poor sleep he had gotten used to. But whether it was his time spent relaxing and watching films with the others the previous night or just sheer exhaustion finally catching up to him, he wasn't sure.
Regardless, Jack checked the time, the system of which Sephy had gone through with him a few times. Measurement systems were quite finicky here, but after just over a week of waking up in similar fashion Jack saw that the numbers looked similar to all the previous nights, and when he stopped a moment to listen, he couldn’t hear anybody else moving about. Even Dante was still asleep, and Jack was pleased to see that the ‘dog’ was breathing a bit better. Whatever Rayle had done seemed to work, though he’d still search for the nearest vet just in case Dante got this way again.
Tiptoeing across the room Jack quickly changed into some exercise clothes and grabbed his towel from where it was dumped on the floor from the previous day. This was a routine he had very rarely ever compromised on ever since he arrived in this realm, and like clockwork Jack tiptoed down the stairs and poured himself a drink of cold tea from the pot, downing it quickly before carefully opening the door to outside. Rayle was still asleep, resting their body on the natural ground to take advantage of their Druidic powers to slowly heal as they slept, but the two opossum-like Screediips, Thulu and Stega poked their heads out nervously to stare at Jack as he crept his way down the long-abandoned ancient road to the district wall. The only sounds were a few small birds fluttering well above him, and the soft thuds of his feet dragging themselves to the starting line.
Pulling out the display for his commlink was always a hassle for Jack ever time he tried, but he was getting better, correctly selecting the music app, clicking on the ‘workout’ tag and hitting ‘random’ with only a few errors or missclicks. As the heavy bass kicked in, beginning a strange combination of what sounding like a cross between death metal and yodelling, Jack started his warm up, his legs feeling stiff and barely functional until he got into a rhythm and soon began running without a problem.
It was about an hour before Jack wound down, seeing that Rayle had gotten up from their spot and left the back door open. So, finishing his workout he lightly jogged over, slipping through and seeing Nika awkwardly make another pot of tea.
“Wish I could have joined you.” The Kizun sighed. “Still sore but at least I’ll be able to come to school with you guys, no way am I gonna risk getting in detention, so it looks like I’m gonna try and tough it out.”
“Hey, you shouldn’t feel pressured to go if you’re hurt!” Jack cautioned. “We know a bunch of people that definitely won’t be able to come in, surely they won’t hand out detentions after a crisis?”
“They have before.” Rayle shook their head as they handed Jack a mug of water, which he downed greedily. “Glad I woke up in time, if it wasn’t for that Lifestone of yours I would probably still be in a coma.”
“Yeah about that.” that reminded Jack. “How are you holding up Rayle?”
“Much better!” The Squa’Kaar smiled nervously. “My connection to the earth is much stronger here, so I’ll be fine! I feel bad for those that lack the ability though…”
“Yeah, if it’s all the same with you Rayle I prefer sleeping in my room instead of freezing my ass outside.” Nika snorted.
“We always have the Lesser Lifestone?” Jack questioned. “Are you able to use that and get better?”
“You have a point.” Nika smiled. “But I’ll wait for the others to get up first, they probably need it more.”
“Doubt it.” Jack shrugged, “You’re hurt the most, you might as well get patched up otherwise you’re gonna have me worried all day.”
“Alright.” Nika smiled unsurely. “I’ll talk to Alora, you go have a shower before you stink up the place!”
“Heh, alright.” Jack sighed as he quickly made his way upstairs.
Once he left, Nika immediately reached into one of her pockets, frantically pulling out her bottle of pills. Quickly taking one, she gave the bottle a shake and sighed when she realised she was getting low. She had been taking pills to throw off her heat cycle more regularly now Jack was living with them, and times like these when he was either helping her with something or just straight up worried about her really set her off.
“You should stop fighting it.” Rayle pointed out from where she was curled up on the sofa sipping her tea, still wrapped up in the blanket they had taken outside while Nika gave her a look. “It’s not healthy to fight against an important aspect of your nature, why not just give in to it?”
“No.” Nika sighed before elaborating. “I mean, yeah I’ve thought about it but I honestly don’t think I’m anywhere near ready for that kind of stuff yet and I don’t think Jack is either. Besides, it’s not debilitating and the pills usually last a while. It’s just one of those things I’ll need to get used to.”
“Will it have any long-term effects?” the Druid asked curiously.
“Um…I don’t think so.” Nika shrugged. “My people have been using these since before our recorded history, ever since we no longer needed to rapidly spread, and there doesn’t seem to be any kind of built-up resistance over the generations. Buying these is the real problem though. My people are quite spread out amongst known and probably unknown space too, but finding a regular supplier can be a real pain sometimes even on the Ring. I’ll be alright. I usually am...”
*****
Jack’s body was still glistening with sweat from his run as he entered the bathroom and locked the door. Quickly shucking his clothes off and turning on the water, he waited for it to warm up a little bit before stepping in. As the hot water cascaded down his body he let out a sigh of relief as he washed away the grime, before leaning back against the cubicle wall and allowing a moment of relaxation before he knew he would have to walk into whatever shitshow awaited the group today.
He was brought back from his thoughts when the shower made a slight stuttering sound, prompting him to quickly turn it off and wrap a towel around him. Walking over to the sink and looking into the old, cracked mirror, he inspected the telltale signs of hair growing above his top lip. He hadn’t really been taught to shave before his arrival, because he hadn’t needed to learn yet, but Jack didn’t really like the idea of starting to grow a moustache or a beard at his age. Reaching into the bag he brought in with him he pulled out a knife he had been using for this purpose for the last week or so, which he kept reasonably sharpened. Though he didn’t know if there was any shaving cream or anything sold that could help protect his skin and make the process a little quicker and less stress-free, he still proceeded regardless, carefully running the blade up and down…
He quickly looked around as without warning, the door opened to reveal Vanya, who looked at him in a panic as he nicked his skin with the blade.
“No!” She yelled as she rushed over to him. “What are you doing!”
“Woah wait! Vanya! Calm down!” Jack tried to wave her off in confusion as she grabbed the arm holding the knife, allowing her to take it from him as he just stood there baffled, as she cast a quick healing spell on him.
Wait? Did she think he was…
“Hey.” Jack calmly put his hands on Vanya’s trembling arms. “That wasn’t what you thought it was, I’m not checking out just yet.”
‘At least never like that, since I’m a fucking coward…’ Jack thought to himself. “You okay Vanya?”
“Um…I’m sorry, I…” Vanya began, and had to take a few moments to calm herself down, breathing deeply in and out as a coping mechanism. “I’m sorry Jack.” She started again. “In the moment I didn’t know what you were doing and I thought the worst.”
“Nah, it’s fine.” Jack tried to give her a reassuring smile, knowing that he must have inadvertently triggered something in the rabbit-like girl. “I was just doing guy stuff, didn’t mean to spook you. How did you even get in if I locked the door?”
“I don’t know, I just turned it as normal and it opened, it might be broken.” She motioned to the long-cracked mirror. “Just like a bunch of other things, you guys mentioned you needed to do some home repairs.”
“Yeah.” Jack sighed, though realistically he didn’t feel bad about it. It was something more normal that he had an aptitude for, as he often helped his father and his brothers around the house with chores on the weekends. “Something might be off with the plumbing or something too, the shower was sputtering a bit towards the end but I wasn’t actually using it for that long.”
“Yeah I think Alora mentioned having the occasional utility problems when guests are over, I’m guessing it might be more problematic now there’s more people living here for the foreseeable future.” Vanya sighed. “I hope there’s enough for me.”
“There should be. If not then maybe Zayle can help with their water spirit?” Jack grinned, before suddenly realising something. “Um…mind getting off me and letting me get changed first?”
“Oh! Sorry!” Vanya panicked as she quickly moved back, freeing the towel around Jack’s waist to fall to the ground…
“Oh…” The Chuna just about got out with wide eyes, before Jack took the initiative and gently manhandled her out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Quickly finishing his shave and getting dressed Jack waved the embarrassed Vanya in, who had pulled out her small handbag, somehow managing to yank out a fully folded school uniform for the day. Jack guessed it was something similar to the extra-dimensional wicker basket the Squa’Kaar twins had used to store most of their belongings. Heading downstairs, Jack was happy to see that the rest of the household was awake in various states of lucidity. Nika was wide awake and eating breakfast with Alora, who was a little tired but otherwise coping. Chiyo and the Squa’Kaar were sitting on the sofa catching the headlines while Sephy was still looking tired browsing her commlink.
“You’ve got some more bounties on you Jack.” Sephy cautioned. “But nowhere near as bad as last week, probably not gonna be a problem.”
“Who has he pissed off now?” Nika asked curiously.
“Actually it’s all of us.” Sephy shrugged. “Apparently the Ogar clan the Laird belonged to seeks a Weregild for his death. They either weren’t able to put up much or just don’t give a shit and put up a token amount that satisfies their tradition. We’ve also got some anonymous accounts freshly made that are bumping Jack up again…”
“Malakiel?” Jack asked, worried.
“Nah. It’s gotta be related to the Klowns. They’ve tagged a bunch of people, all prominent people that are publicly known to have had a hand in fighting off the Klowns. You, Luvia, Svaarti, Devil’s Daughter, and everyone’s favourite asshole Svaartal are up there, but the amounts are spread fairly evenly. Oh hey! Mr Sparrel’s here too! And holy crap, so is Master Kull!”
“How are the Klowns able to post bounties?” Zayle asked in confusion as their earth spirit lumbered over and brought over a tray of tea.
“Because it isn’t them themselves actually doing it.” Nika pointed out. “It’s all the crazies actually backing them on the datanet that want to see everything burn. The damn simps!”
The Cult of Jingubash is likely involved too. Chiyo added. They are known to exist but they’re treated the same as the Cult of the Destroyer. The Klowns are their public force, but there are many worshippers that hide in the shadows and keep their allegiances well hidden. They’re not believed to be organised in the way cultists of the Destroyer usually are, but they’re still very dangerous.
“Good to know.” Jack shrugged. “At least I’m one of many, any bounty hunters I should know about?”
“Nope.” Sephy smiled. “You’re all clear on the public list, but that doesn’t mean hunters aren’t coming after you, or they just haven't announced it publicly yet.”
“Yeah, when you’re known to have done a public service for the city, people tend to frown on those that want to mess with you.” Nika grinned as the conversation ended, with Jack quickly accepting the breakfast Zayle made for him as he watched the news, with Rayle occasionally skipping the more boring stories.
“...dire news as people are still being recovered from this scene of devastation…”
“..The CEO of Corvin Enterprises has threatened to hunt down and expel all ‘peasants’ from the newly annexed district…”
“It is currently unknown what occurred at the Pallid Pit, however Drow involvement in cleansing it is speculated to be the likely cause…”
“Red Legion forces have been pushed back from the Taurin Sector, causing many to wonder - Is the Red Legion on the brink of defeat?”
“....it is unknown if this is a possible sign of a new Nascent Demon Lord awakening on Hive Station Bastilla, but local factions are investigating….”
“Local rangers have confirmed a mass-migration of many Zorn tribes heading westward into the unexplored wilderness. The reason for this is unknown…”
“We have Breaking News!” A cheery avian female suddenly popped up on the screen. She was in a large hall amidst a crowd of journalists with a podium and lectern combo at the end. “I am reporting live from Cocaine Keep, where local warlord Commander Cocaine has called a press conference in light of the apparent death of Devil’s Daughter…oh! Looks like he’s about to speak!”
The camera zoomed in on a large biped walking to the podium. With greenish grey skin and several bone plates protecting their maw, the mean-looking, aquatic-looking warrior was wearing a full set of lithe combat armour that hugged his large frame, with an oversized pair of goggles and a plain white bandana.
“Ooooh yeah!” The warrior roared intensely, shutting up the crowd instantly as he posed with bulging muscles for the cameras as his voice echoed throughout the hall. “I’ve heard the news, yeah! I’ve seen the Klowns, yeah! I’ve smelled the chaos, yeah! And I sense the cries of the people for a hero, yeah! SO COMMANDER COCAINE WILL ANSWER! OOOOH YEAH!”
In the views of the cameras, Jack could see the front rows of journalists start to back away, almost as if they were afraid of the volatile warlord doing something crazy.
Jack couldn’t blame them.
“Yeah! I know you’re all feeling scared and alone out there, yeah! I know things are bad, yeah!” The lunatic continued, with energetic motions towards the stunned crowd. “But let me tell you people something. Commander Cocaine may not be the biggest or strongest there is, but I’ve got heart! I’ve got spirit! And I’ve got lots of cocaine! Ooooh yeah!”
He made several poses with his muscles bulging beneath his armour before he concluded his speech.
”You know who I am, but just in case you don’t, I am Commander Cocaine, and I am the hero this city needs! Anyone with an active bounty better watch out, because Commander Cocaine is coming! OOOOH YEAH!”
With that he strutted off as several reporters from the front row tried to ask him some questions.
“Well, we just heard from Commander Cocaine, who has just sworn to be the hero this city needs!” The reporter started after regaining their composure. “If you want to aid him, you can join the Cocaine Crusaders at the following…”
That’s enough crazy for me right now. Chiyo interrupted as she used her powers to call the remote to her and changed the channel.
“Heh, check this out!” Sephy suddenly cackled. “Svaartal’s got a fat bounty on him, probably from fans of Devil’s Daughter!”
“I hope Devil’s Daughter is okay…” Alora spoke up sadly, causing Sephy to calm down. “We may be partially responsible for what happened…”
“No, Devil’s Daughter made her choice using the information we gave her, we couldn’t have predicted what she would do with it.” Nika reasoned. “And we’re totally going for that bounty, right? We still owe Svaartal a receipt for coming after Jack last week, it’ll be the perfect time to get him if we all work together to take him down.”
“You forget that he’s aligned himself with a powerful Drow House!” Alora chided her. “Who we really want to shake off! As good as we are, we cannot stand against them if we give them greater cause to seek our destruction!”
“They came for us already!” Sephy pointed out. “How could it be worse? Besides, we can take them!”
“It could be a lot worse!” Alora cautioned. “And not only are the Drow Nobles powerful individually, they have a powerful force backing them. There’s a reason why they are a major faction here! You’d risk putting all of us in massive danger!”
“Svaartal has to separate from them at some point.” Nika reasoned. “What do you think Jack?”
“I don’t want to go after him.” Jack immediately replied, truthfully. “But if he gives me a good reason to, I'll face him again. However, if he leaves us alone, we can leave him alone.”
“Well, that’s decided.” Alora sighed in relief. “We haven’t got too much time before we need to go, so let’s all hurry up and get ready!”
As they all hustled and did what they needed to do, Nika sat down on the sofa already ready, unhappy with the decision on Svaartal. He was a dangerous threat to the group, and after his ambush on them she knew he had to be taken out before he had a chance to come for them again. She had tried to take him out during the Klown attack when everyone else was safe and nobody was looking, without success. But here, there was an opportunity to take him out for good without getting their own hands dirty.
Logging in to one of her proxy accounts, Nika bumped up Svaartal’s bounty some more, making it that much more lucrative….
‘Shouldn’t have tried to kill Jack, asshole.’ She thought to herself with a sly smile.
*****
The queues to the school entrance checkpoints were shorter than usual due to the Klown attack, but not depressingly so. Several of the students were talking to each other while they waited in line as they looked up and down the rows in hopes of seeing their friends. To Jack’s mind, many seemed relieved that there weren’t as many victims as they had expected, and the realisation that he played a major part in saving a lot of his fellow students around him during the attack gave him a warm feeling in the back of his mind.
Unfortunately, said good thoughts evaporated when they got closer to the prefects.
“Halt!” One of the Korrigan prefects ordered the group as they approached. “Due to increased security measures you will submit to a full pat down. Failure to comply will result in your immediate termination.”
“Heh, as if they could take us.” Sephy grinned to the others as she was surprisingly the first to volunteer, though Jack had no doubt the sneaky Skritta had ways of hiding what she didn’t want to be seen.
“You two, come this way.” The head prefect observing their queue told Jack and Alora as they moved separately to be searched.
“What have you got hidden here?” the Prefect narrowed his eyes at Jack as they neared the end of their check. It had been quite thorough but he hadn’t given the Prefects a hard time because of it. He could understand the need for additional security in light of the Klown attack, but he wished they weren’t so heavy handed…
“Those are my balls.” Jack squirmed away. “Handle with care, or preferably not at all!”
“Yeah only we get to do that!” Sephy grinned as Jack sputtered in shock.
“You may go.” The Prefect told him. “Actually…wait a moment.”
“Is there a problem?” Jack asked warily, not wanting to be given any grief by these guys.
“I…” the grey-skinned Prefect began before they found their words. “I want to thank you and your friends for what you did at the party, many of my friends and colleagues are still alive because of you.”
“I…that’s alright, I just did what I could to help.” Jack replied, abruptly taken aback by the words. As bad as the Prefects could be, they were still people.
As the rest of the group made it past the checkpoint to head to the lifts, Jack groaned internally as he saw several drow waiting for them up ahead. If looks alone could kill, Izadora was certainly trying as she snarled at the human, who grinned defiantly in return while wearing the shades he had picked up from one of the two Drow Nobles that had attacked him during their raid on the Pallid Pit. The two brothers, Soren and Kravel, were nearby dealing with the checkpoint, but Jack could see they had clocked their group’s arrival.
The huge drow was there too, close to Izadora, and casually leaning against the entry staircase looking bored. Another smaller drow was there who he didn’t immediately recognise, wasn’t she with Soren when the drow came to pick up Svaarti? She certainly stood out from the crowd; despite the slim, athletic build similar to most of the other Drow, Jack could see several school uniform violations, with the thin, high collared black leather-like jacket, with interwoven silvery circuitry that appeared functional being the most blatant, and several dyed strands of light purple amongst her naturally white long hair.
And finally, Svaartal himself. Standing at attention, he was leaning on the staff of Devil’s Daughter, and staring right at him.
“Someone’s chasing clout with that staff.” Nika growled, keeping her hands ready to draw weapons, ignoring the pain of movement as she put on an air of confidence.
“Let’s try not to escalate this if we can.” Alora cautioned.
“You.” Izadora growled under her breath, and the Eladrie sighed resignedly.
“Hey there!” Jack grinned widely, as he gave the Drow Matriarch a friendly wave while many students stopped to watch the exchange, knowing what had happened the last time. “How was your weekend?” He mocked, though he kept up the friendly facade.
“Better than yours I suspect.” She snarled back. “I’m surprised you’re alive, Outsider.”
“Wait, what?” The unknown Drow with them perked up, looking baffled, turning around to stare at Izadora, as Jack saw the traces of several neon circuitry designs peek up from the collar of her school uniform. “This is the guy that kicked your ass and got you all worked up, sister? He doesn’t look so tough to me! My mech could totally wreck him, shame the High Matriarch said no!”
Jack didn’t think the foul expression of Izadora couldn’t get worse, but he was almost amused to see that he was quite wrong. Both Svaartal and the huge drow covered their smirks as the Matriarch rounded on who was apparently her sister, even as the unusual Drow waltzed closer to Jack, peering at him with a curious expression. Nika immediately had her shotgun levelled at their head as Chiyo drew in her power, ready to lash out.
“What?” The strange drow rolled her eyes at the girls as she stopped. “I haven’t even done anything yet!”
“Dextra.” Izadora snapped with gritted teeth. “Satisfy your foolish curiosity another time.”
“You talk too much for a humiliated Matriarch trying to save face.” Sephy chipped in with her ricocheting plasma pistols pointed at the ground, though Jack knew from the angle that she had subtly taken aim at Izadora. “Jack kicked your ass right here, and we took out your special forces at the Pallid Pit!”
“I will make you…” Izadora snarled, before they were interrupted by a familiar, cool voice.
“Izadora, what is the reason you are accosting this group of students?” Rena called out, as she approached the crowd, and Jack was surprised and glad to see Nya trailing gingerly behind her, staring at Svaartal’s newly acquired staff. “It appears that you are holding up the flow of traffic.”
“I am simply ensuring that they know the rules, Rena.” Izadora dismissed. “I-”
“I doubt it.” Rena snapped, unamused. “Your duties are done here, I have been instructed to tell you to report to Mr Zhiel’s office immediately before class.”
Izadora grumbled but ultimately complied, while Svaartal and Dextra slinked away. Only the large one remained behind, looking at Rena almost amusedly as she gave orders to the students to disperse, before he finally turned lazily and slunk up the stairs, but not before subtly looking at Jack for just a tiny moment with a thin smirk.
“I would suggest you all go to your form classes, as there have been several changes in light of the Killer Klown’s attack. I will however address you about this incident later.” Rena sternly told their group, as Alora gently pulled Jack away, quietly pleading with him not to start any trouble, despite the human’s wish to chase after and attack Izadora again, and to give Rena some backtalk.
“Jack, did you really have to wear those shades you looted from the Mal’Kar’s around their surviving family?” The Eladrie sighed disapprovingly as they left the area.
“Yep!” He grinned as they made their way to the lifts.
“Totally worth it…”
*****
First/Previous
OOOOOOOOOOOOOH YEAH! COMMANDER COCAINE IS COMING!
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1 Three Stars
"What offerings do you have that can match the magnitude of the task you're asking me to undertake?" Thomas asked, trying to remain unfazed by the presence of the extradimensional being. He was already daydreaming about a variety of ultimate powers such as the ability to conjure all kinds of cheese at will.
"You took too long to decide. You get nothing," Zed replied in the same absurdly cheerful voice stolen from Lizz.
“What?!” The delivery man sputtered.
"Your role in the grand scheme of things, could technically be filled by virtually any semi-intelligent bipedal specimen now wandering this world. You are merely slightly closer to me."
“Closer?” Thomas blinked.
“Closer than the other human parties that have just stepped onto this planet,” Zed affirmed. "I'm afraid that your value to me is rapidly approaching zero."
"So, what you're saying is that I'm nearly worthless?" Thomas frowned, glancing at Zed.
"More or less," the anomalous creature's lithe body rippled with tendrils of utter nothingness, which had terrible consequences for those foolish enough to gaze upon them.
"Why even bother asking me to be your emissary?" The delivery man asked, blinking away the migraine and looking away from the celestial planet-murderer.
“You are the first human I encountered that is still fully functional," Zed said. “If you take any longer to become my emissary, others will get here and they will be offered the position. Alternatively, I will erase them from existence if I find them... bothersome.”
Thomas sighed. "Wait a second. How do you even know about this? Are you omniscient or something?"
"There are [4] distinctive parties of bipeds on this world now, [46] individuals in total. They communicate via pinhole gates with each other. I absorbed one of your gate-transmitters and amplified its receiver mechanism, so I can hear their plans. Would you like to hear their words?”
“Sure,” Thomas crossed his arms.
“Very nice…” Zed suddenly hissed with a scruffy male voice. “Thanks…” A female voice replied to some cutoff segment of conversation. “I do not find this acceptable.” A third voice commented. “Ask for the…” A fourth voice cut in. “What the hell is…” A fifth voice overlaid itself atop of the others.
Thomas felt a migraine rising, trying to make sense of the mixture of forty six people speaking all at once. It was impossible. “Does nothing!” Someone yelled. “Here…” A girl replied.
“Please turn that off,” Thomas begged. “I can’t listen to this many voices at once.”
Zed fell silent.
“Can you summarize as to what they want?” Thomas inquired.
"Three parties are surprised by how this planet is now devoid of life. They are very eager to discover what happened here. One party is led by a three-star officer seeking to contain me. He received a data transmission about me from the Portal Institute. If he locates me first, I will likely be forced to exterminate him and his party… along with you and the rest of humans present on this world,” Zed summarized.
“Wait… why would you exterminate me along with the officer?” Thomas demanded, not wishing to be exterminated. “What did I do?”
“The shield-breaking neutrino pulse travels very far across this world,” Zed explained. “Once I unleash it, all present here will turn to dust. I suspect more of your kind will gate to this dead sphere to investigate… and when they do, I will ask them what I have asked you.”
Thomas frowned, feeling pressure increasing upon him.
If this were a litrpg game that he liked to play with Lizz until she got maximum-censored he would likely see a blue window with the:
[Quest: make sure extradimensional being Zed doesn't get captured.]
[Reward: Being alive.]
The delivery man sighed, feeling the weight of his own existence and the lives of forty six others on the scales of life and death.
"I accept your offer of… almost nothing," he said with a woeful look. Perhaps he could arrange some kind of reward out of Zed later on. "I'll be your emissary."
"Excellent," Zed replied with a cheerful disposition. Thomas wasn't sure if the alien being was smiling since it didn't have a human face.
They stood silently for a few moments. Thomas unmuted Lizz. "Recipient not available," he said. "Please gate me back to Europa!"
"Unable to comply," Lizz said. "Unknown interference present in area. Please relocate a few hundred meters away from the interference."
Thomas groaned, looking at Zed. He guessed the nature of the interference.
"The officer is almost upon us," the stick figure said. "He is moving fast."
"Can you hide… change your shape or stop interfering with my portal?" Thomas pleaded.
“I am unable to reduce white hole interference,” Zed replied. “I am however able to fold myself down to about 2x2 centimeter cube to hide myself upon your person.”
Thomas quickly opened up the part of his bracelet that was holding the processing core of Lizz in place. Thankfully, the core was only held together by some duct tape since he was busy trying to hack Lizz into a relationship for months now.
He quickly shoved Lizz into his GUPS uniform pocket.
“Get in the bracelet. It's radiation-proof!” He told Zed. “Hurry!”
The stick figure began to fold into itself. The disturbing process that violated dimensional space in impossible ways nearly made Thomas throw up his lunch. He snapped the thick bracelet shut just as a dark hovercraft became visible on the horizon.
Dust that was formerly people and trees blasted all around, making Thomas choke and cough. Ten men in full black suits jumped out of the hovercraft spreading around the city square. By the unnaturally fast way they moved, Thomas could tell that nine of them were Dex units, nearly invincible androids that the G-corp employed all over the Milky Way Galactic Rim.
A man wearing a full black armor set and black helmet with three stars on his lapel stepped towards Thomas.
“And who might you be?” A sharp, cold voice asked from the speaker.
“Thomas Morell, GUPS delivery,” Thomas reported, blinking dust out of his eyes and trying very hard not to break out into another fit of coughing.
"Officer Drohiryak, division 14-161," the officer introduced himself.
Thomas nodded in compliance.
“Did you see anything unusual?” The three star officer asked.
“No, sir,” Thomas lied. “I just got here five minutes ago… and now my portal back to Europa won’t open.”
“Yes, there has been a terrible accident here,” The officer nodded. “The idiot eggheads at the Portal Research let something loose.”
“Something?” Thomas blinked dust-caused tears out of his eyes.
“Something exceptionally dangerous,” the helmeted man nodded. “The eggheads are calling it an extradimensional phantom. Hopefully we can find and contain it before it can cause any more deaths. There were forty five thousand people here on Sintash working in Portal Research town… that the blasted thing turned to dust. It looks like an emaciated human figure made from flickering black lines. One of the remaining traffic cameras got a good shot of it.”
Thomas gulped.
“Here,” a holographic photograph of Zed came into existence over the officer’s wrist. “Are you certain you haven’t seen anything like it nearby?”
Thomas stared at the hologram, trying not to sweat. The delivery man saw that the officer had an AI LLM on his wrist, just like Lizz but one that was likely far less lobotomized. Thomas also knew that the officer's AI was evaluating him right at this moment through its camera lens, trying to determine if he was lying or looking nervous.
Some of the Dex officers finished scouting the perimeter. Four of them returned to Officer Drohiryak's side flashing their unnerving, perfect smiles at Thomas.
Thomas felt that they were all judging him.
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Introduced a new map module: DCS: Sinai
Introduced a new campaign: UH-1H The Huey Last Show Campaign by SorelRo

DCS World

• Infantry no longer smoke when injured or killed
• ME. Weather widget: Broken alignment. Not enough space for strings - fixed
• Ships. Arleigh Burke aft launcher is missing the 'boom' sound when the SM-2 missile is fired - fixed
• ME. Mission Editor freezes when creating a new group - fixed
• AI Aircraft. AV-8B. Incorrect deck landing and takeoff in some cases - fixed
• AI Aircraft. AV-8B can't take off from FARP and sea shelf objects - fixed
• GUI Error when try to select track in some cases - fixed
• Ground units. In some situations, the collision of a bullet and a unit is not registered - fixed.
• MP. Server CTD if the client is destroyed due to a trigger and the client leaves the server - fixed.
• Historical mode. Egyptian list of units tuned.
• MP. There is no confirmation window when exiting the MP via the role selection menu - window added
• ME. ATC always shows AM radio modulation even if scene role set to FM - fixed
• AI Aircraft. MiG-31 will be able to simultaneously launch up to four R-33 missiles to four targets.
• Improved rendering of sea water surface in FLIR.
• ME. Aircraft payload view will stay open when "Additional Properties" tab is open.
• FLIR. South Atlantic Map IR render is adjusted.
• AI Aircraft. AI fighters will attack specialized interceptors like MiG-31 type if they are tasked with attacking fighters.
• MP. Server CTD on unit:destroy when player controlled - fixed
• Incorrect display of the horizon visibility boundary in TV mode of targeting pods - adjusted
• VR. Left eye has issues with lights on terrain and buildings - fixed lightmap applying in multi-viewport setup
• ME. MK-84 and some other bombs are missing in the Bomb in Zone Condition of trigger - fixed
• MP. Dedicated Server: slot spamming causes 100% CPU load and server unreachable - Fixed

DCS: F-16C Viper by Eagle Dynamics

• Added Velocity Search With Ranging (VSR) - Instruction video DCS: F-16C and F/A-18C Velocity Radar Modes Update (COMING SOON)
• Added MTR LO (71 knots) and HI (110 knots) function from CTRL (knots) page of FCR for radar AA modes
• Added Sinai IA Instant Action missions
• Fixed: Markpoint created from FCR GM has large offset from what is designated
• Fixed: Offset Aimpoint altitude is entered from DED with negative values
• Fixed: ASEC and DLZ persists in FCR after switching to NAV mode
• Fixed: TGP Mark point incorrect in weapon MAN mode
• Fixed: ACM 30x20 locking outside the HUD limits.
• Fixed: IAS incorrect on Marianas with very high head winds
• Fixed: Radar able to track targets that are terrain masked
• Updated BFM Instant Action Mission

DCS: F/A-18C Hornet by Eagle Dynamics

• Added Velocity Search (VS) - Instruction video DCS: F-16C and F/A-18C Velocity Radar Modes Update (COMING SOON)
• Added Sinai IA Missions
• Fixed: Enabling one-look raid removes target offboard information
• Fixed: Stuck B sweep on the edge of the DDI after locking on to the target
• Fixed: Slewing after Offset designation moves the WP symbol on the HSI
• Fixed: Extrapolated radar trackfiles continue to update the AIM-120 with the true position of the target
• Fixed: Precise coordinates discrepancy between F10 map and the cockpit
• Fixed: TWS won't show a trackfile until 6 raw hits (bricks) are detected
• Fixed: AZ/EL and RDR ATTK pages show info for jamming target
• Fixed: Offset symbol moves in SA page
• Fixed: SA page shows HAFUs ranked as 0, for trackfiles below rank 9
• Fixed: Stepping away from first track file takes two presses
• Fixed: Training mission carrier moves when it should be static
• Fixed: Airspeed in HUD on Marianas is doubled in very high head winds
• Fixed: Time on Target seems too fast when setting ground speed
• Fixed: Radar able to track targets that are terrain masked
• Updated Hornet BFM Instant Action missions

DCS: AH-64D by Eagle Dynamics

• Made it possible for AI to use IAT
• Added Sinai IA Instant Action missions
• Added Windshield wipers clear rain drops
• Added for AGM-114L new icon for ME
• Fixed: George manoeuvres are not predictable and almost deadly
• Fixed: LST switch in front cockpit moved to A in cold starts (auto-start and manual starts)
• Fixed: AGM-114L seem to fail to hit targets fired while aircraft is moving
• Fixed: APU desync between PLT and CPG
• Fixed: "George" will say "in range" when it is not
• Fixed: Player-CPG cannot launch AGM-114L after AGM-114K
• Fixed: George evaluate LT switch position when Player leaves CPG seat
• Fixed: Yaw limit after you don't launch AGM-114L at once
• Fixed: Constraint box fixed after last missile
• Fixed: George launched AGM-114L from 9km when in weapons free mode
• Fixed: AGM-114 typo in weapon label
• Fixed: FCR defaults to wrong mode in specific power on conditions

DCS: Mi-24P Hind by Eagle Dynamics

• Fixed: Radio desync in multicrew
• Fixed: R-863 radio does not turn on channel 11 on Pilot-Operator seat in multicrew
• Added: Quick Start missions for Sinai map

DCS: UH-1H Huey by Eagle Dynamics

• Fixed: Minigun animation is missing in MT
• Fixed: WIP Throttle control over FCU logic for new engine model. (Before helicopter would be able to takeoff on throttle idle)
• Fixed: WIP Fuel consumption tuning after new engine model implementation

DCS: Mi-8MTV2 Magnificent Eight by Eagle Dynamics

• Added: Quick Start missions for Sinai map
• Fixed: Crash caused by asymmetrical gunpods jettison

DCS: Supercarrier by Eagle Dynamics

• Fixed: MT - long range lineup light not visible
• Fixed: Deck markings not showing in mission editor MT

DCS: FW 190A-8 by Eagle Dynamics

• Pitot light indicator now works without ground power (pitot heating functions still have known issues)
• Fixed: Double bind for Start Switch

DCS: FW 190D-9 by Eagle Dynamics

• Fixed: Double bind for Start Switch

DCS AJS-37 Viggen by Heatblur Simulations

• NEW: Added over 100 user requested keybinds (with special thanks to Munkwolf et al.).
  • Does not affect existing keybinds.
• RB-05 Overhaul:
  • Fixed RB-05 only able to be steered with radar in A0.
  • Fixed launched RB-05s automatically setting radar to A0 (without moving the switch).
  • Fixed subsequent launches sending the first missile to Valhalla.
  • Fixed steering commands being sent to the missile beyond 30s.
• Included several BK-90 fixes:
  • Fixed STD switch erroneously affecting pattern setting.
  • Inhibited display of BK-90 HUD symbology above 500m.
  • Max distance release cue not showing correctly.
• Added U-22 Jammer Mode E (always transmits).
• Added non-tracer AKAN gunpod.
• Fixed Jammer warmup not being skipped during hotstart.
• Fixed U-22 (old) warning light not showing during warmup.
• Fixed X-TANK BRÄ light showing <50% RPM instead of <70%.
• Fixed airbrakes not auto-retracting with landing gear releasing.
• Added feature that allows airbrakes to be stopped in an intermediate position.
• Added “_(...)” to keybinds for l10n. Now keybinds are localizable.

DCS F-14 Tomcat by Heatblur Simulations

• NEW: Major Ground Handling and Suspension Overhaul Phase 2:
  • Significant suspension and ground handling qualities update.
  • Increased Brake Torque.
  • Adjusted kneel actuator rate.
  • Completely redone strut forces and dynamics.
  • Adjusted kneel spring energy.
• Fixed aircraft spawning kneeled on carrier hot starts.
• All hot starts now spawn with the parking brake engaged.
• Adjusted default takeoff trim for carrier spawns.
• Fixed incorrect delay in ejection sequence.
• EIG brightness adjusted with ambient illumination.

DCS: JF-17 by Deka Ironwork Simulations

• Fixed: SMS supports for PL-12
• Added: Weapon Qualification missions

DCS: SA-342M Gazelle by Polychop Simulations

SA342 - Common to all

• Updated external textures to PBR standard
• Added raindrops on canopy
• Interior lighting and reflections updated
• Flight model
  • Entirely rewritten FM
  • Overhauled engine and rotor behaviours
  • Updated mass and payload mass parameters
  • Many new behaviours added or reworked (ground effect, flapback/blowback, retreating blade stall, density altitude, ETL…)
  • Engine surge effect from rapid collective movement added
• Force Feedback support added
• Removed ‘Easier Controls’ special option
• Removed ‘Rudder Trimmer’ special option (replaced with new trim options)
• New trim options for cyclic and pedal behaviour when using ‘Force Trim Interrupt’
  • None - has no effect
  • Instant - trim position instantly set to current cyclic/pedal position
  • Fade In/Fade Out - trim position will move to current cyclic/pedal position over short time period (<1sec) (also applies to ‘Trimmer Reset’)
  • Applied upon Recentering - trim position will apply instantly only when cyclic/pedal position is recentered
• Updated controls indicator
  • Red marker shows control position
  • Grey marker shows trim position
  • Autopilot markers removed for further consideration
• Updated/added network animations
• Implemented IFF panel (limited functionality)
• Updated autopilot system
  • Airspeed/Altitude hold mode removed for further consideration
  • “Auto-collective” removed for further consideration
  • Added light indicators for auto-hover (CSV) and heading-align (ALV) autopilot modes
  • Autopilot master switch will not engage/will disengage if pitch, roll or yaw SAS disabled
• Added smoke display system
  • Smoke launchers can be equipped in the rearm/refuel screen
  • Smoke launchers have a new input to toggle on/off
• Collective can be hidden by clicking on base of collective
• Added tablet navigation aid
  • Tablet can be disabled from mission editor
  • Tablet provides map, heading, airspeed and groundspeed GPS information
• Updated slip ball to be less erratic
• Fuel warning light now flickers if below 80L

SA342L

• Added new weapons:
  • 2x/4x Mistral
  • 2x/4x HOT3
  • HMP400 gunpods (100, 200, 400)
  • Selectable GIAT M621 20mm

Replaced Viviane screen with periscope sight

• Replaced Viviane control panel with periscope control board
  • Periscope provides two zoom levels
  • Toggleable gyro stabilisation
  • Selectable reticles for estimating distance
  • Connected to ‘VIS’ mode on Artificial Horizon same as Viviane
• Pilot sight can be hidden by clicking on mounting of pilot sight
• AI now able to fire HOT3 missiles
• Added ground crew option to remove doors
• Added option to shoot multiple pylons if the weapon is from the same type

SA342M

• Viviane camera code overhauled
• Viviane multicrew synchronisation improved
• AI now able to fire HOT3 missiles

SA342 Mistral

• Removed playable version (now replaced by SA342L)
• Removed Custom Cockpit options

SA342 Minigun

• Added special option to decouple minigun from head/camera view
• Added inputs for keyboard/joystick control of minigun
• Added inputs for mouse control of minigun
• Added clickables and inputs for minigun safety, sight powebrightness and IR laser

SA342 Known issues and work in progress

• Auto-hover (CVS and ALV modes) are work in progress and may not function reliably yet
• PBR overhaul is a work in progress. Most liveries will look too glossy until they have custom RoughMet textures applied. This will happen over the next few DCS World updates.
• Our in-house Mistral ATAM has been replaced by ED’s which is very susceptible to flares.
• Mistral ATAM tubes protective cap not yet animated

DCS Mirage F1 by Aerges

Short range IR missiles:

• Fixed AIM-9J lock-on audio not being heard.
• Sidewinder missile will not perform SEAM (scan pattern) anymore as this mode was not implemented in the real F1.
• 'Cannon 600/Identification P' throttle button will now uncage Sidewinder missiles (except AIM-9B). If no target was detected at this moment, the seeker head will drift randomly following the background IR heat. The seeker will return to the boresight once the 'Cannon 600/Identification P' button is released. I.e. if a target is tracked, the button must be held pressed to keep the seeker on the target.
• AIM-9JULI launch delay was reduced to 0.4 seconds (AIM-9B/P/J still have 0.8 seconds).
• Magic 1 and 2 scan now is a 5 degrees wide rectangular pattern.
• Fixed Magic missile scan pattern. Sometimes the scan pattern size was excessively increased.
• Updated Magic missiles instantaneous seeker FOV. It is now 3.4 degrees wide.
• Wingtip missile energization switch now always spawns in ON position.
• Wingtip missile cooling time increased.

Flight model and control system:

• Adjusted yaw damper response (both amplitude and frequency).
• Adjusted wake turbulence behaviour. Now the aircraft won’t be so much affected by turbulence in yaw.

Autopilot:

• Fixed control stick slow jitter in some situations when AP was connected.
• Fixed autopilot roll issues that caused disconnection in MP (and in SP after a longer time).

Gyroscope system fixes:

• Fixed bug that impeded full alignment of the gyros if the Gyro mode switch is moved out of stop before the aircraft has AC power.
• Gyro failure overhaul:
  • Added new gyroscope related failures.
  • Fixed general gyroscopic central failure (it now works as described in the manual’s failures section).
• Changed CAP (heading) failure light logic to no longer depend on the attitude gyroscope state.

Various systems changes:

• Fixed missing decimals in loaded radio presets.
• Increased alternator overheating time.
• BARAX lights test logic will be always working now, disregarding the system test status.
• INS overhaul (first step):
  • Improved alignment steps and precision in all modes.
  • Accelerating during alignment now generates a malfunction in the INS and requires full realignment.
  • Fixed ALCM mode.
• Corrected oxygen test logic to follow manual description. Now the needle moves from full to empty to full again until the test button is depressed.
• Fixed oxygen indication energization logic. Now, when pressing the OXY TEST button, the oxygen indicator will be energized by the emergency AC bus 1 instead of the main AC bus 2, thus allowing the oxygen level to be read with the engine off.
• Fixed Standby Horizon attitude reference symbol movement with keyboard inputs.
• Fixed initial position of the ejection seat clickspot before it is pressed for the first time.

3D model and textures:

• Fixed the size of white dots in the Autopilot control panel.
• Fixed circuit breaker label (C de GYRO circuit breaker was incorrectly called NAV).
• Improved BR-250 bomb texture.
• Fixed the spherical indicator, it now shows the correct pitch attitude.
• Fixed the standby horizon, it now shows the correct pitch attitude.

Miscellaneous:

• Updated the Flight Manual.
• Updated the startup training mission: Highlighted the NWS high sensitivity button. Specified that the "I" key on the keyboard sets the throttle to idle.
• Added PHIMAT chaff pod to versions CT, CR, ED, BD, EQ, BQ. (Only visual for now).
• Added Stick Hide/Unhide keybind.

DCS: C-101 Aviojet by AvioDev

• AIM-9M launch delay was reduced to 0.4 seconds.
• Magic 1 and 2 scan now is a 5 degrees wide rectangular pattern.
• Fixed Magic missile scan pattern. Sometimes the scan pattern size was excessively increased.
• Updated Magic missiles instantaneous seeker FOV. It is now 3.4 degrees wide.
• Fixed missing decimals in loaded radio presets.
• Fixed startup training mission (EN, ES and CN). The aileron control test trigger should now work.

DCS: Flaming Cliffs by Eagle Dynamics

• Double pylons with B-8 rockets don't work on Su-27/33 - fixed

DCS: Black Shark 3 by Eagle Dynamics

• ME. Incorrect mass of payloads - fixed
• MP. 2011 version instead of 2022 when looking at other clients - fixed
• Rotor gearbox sounds updated

DCS: Combined Arms by Eagle Dynamics

• Fixed - Player can't use HE shells in the second stage if in the first stage set 0 HE shells.
• Fixed - "Zero-sight" mask in iso-view IR or NVG on MBT Abrams.

DCS: Normandy 2.0 Map by Ugra Media

• Added scene of Spitfires factories in Hampshire
• Added scene with flags and warehouses from machinery at Heathrow Airfield
• Added the port of Le Treport
• Added two fishing boats
• Added fishing boat routes
• Added underground tunnels in Paris
• Added new tram routes in London
• Added wooden piers
• Improved radar tower scenes in England and France
• Improved port scenes for Portsmouth, Dunkirk, London
• Improved traffic of trains and cars
• Added earthworks at English airfields Kenley, Ford, Chailey, Needs Oar Point, West Malling, Gravesend
• Improved scenes of Orly, Saint-Andre-de-lEure, Amiens-Glisy, Carpiquet, Gravesend, Kenley airfields
• Improved tent and sandbag shelter scenes at Ford, Chailey, Gravesend, Kenley airfields
• Part of metal car bridges replaced by stone ones
• Improved range of visibility settings for city objects
• Improved life settings for objects
• Improved lighting of objects
• Destruction models are optimised
• Added steps on Tower Bridge, Mirabeau Bridge, Alexander III Bridge
• Fixed errors in the Chailey, Farnborough, Ford, Kenley, Beny-sur-Mer, Bazenville, Deux Jumeaux airfield scenes
• Fixed errors in taxiways and car parks at Chailey, Farnborough, Ford, Kenley, Lymington, Orly, Villacoublay, Saint-Andre-de-lEure, Creil, Cormeilles-en-Vexin, Carpiquet, Sainte-Laurent-sur-Mer
• Terrain errors on the French coast have been fixed
• Levelled terrain in the ports of Portsmouth, Dunkirk, London, Boulogne-sur-Mer
• Fixed errors in land textures near the Isle of Wight and on the coast of the landing zone
• Corrected collisions in Louvre Museum arches, military school in Paris, Luxembourg Palace, Tower, Victoria Station, Liverpool Street Station, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace
• Fixed errors at Cumberland and Newhaven Forts
• Fixed the hands on the clocks at Victoria Station, Big Ben and model churches
• Increased texture resolution for minimum settings
• Improved cliffs on the coast of France
• Added large size flags

Campaigns

The Enemy Within 3.0 Campaign by Baltic Dragon:
General. Fixing typos, updates to briefings etc.

• Mission 01. Fixes to coordinates in subtitles. Removed unnecessary files from the mission.
• Mission 04. Added missing line for Pontiac. Updated on-screen messages so that player won't loose some of the comms.
• Mission 05. Removed duplicate briefing images. Updated flight plan (removed wrong WP1).
• Mission 06. Updated wrong kneeboard card with frequencies.
• Mission 07. Updated kneeboard and briefing images.
• Mission 09. Updated briefing images. Fixed issue with Overlord AI overstepping custom comms.
• Mission 11. Updated Player Group ID. Balancing of the difficulty for the infantry attack near the mosque.
• Mission 12. Fixed wrong VO for Lotus. Fixed overlapping comms for Raider.
• Mission 13. Fixed issue with missing debriefing. Minor typos fixed.
• Mission 15. Changed frequencies for some assets, so it is easier to manage the radios now.
• Mission 20. Updated mission date. Made some friendly units invisible so that they are not engaged by Russian SAMs.

DCS: F/A-18C Flaming Sunrise Campaign by Sandman Simulations

• Documentation – typos fixed
• All missions – typos fixed
• All missions – planning charts included in in-game kneeboard
• All missions – sidenumbers changed to be more realistic

DCS: F/A-18C Raven One: Dominant Fury Campaign by Baltic Dragon

• Horizontal Update. Updated and fixed skins for the campaign
• Mission 01. Fixed problem with AI flights not taking off and carrier turning constantly
• Mission 08. Fixed issue with Red orbiting around the carrier after takeoff
• Mission 12. Added safeguard for AI engaging the SAM sites

DCS: F/A-18C Inherent Resolve Campaign by Looking Glass

• Adjusted ALL mission start/wait times - users can start aircraft quickestart mission quicker
• Mission 5 - Barrel bombs - improved gameplay, added audio for fox calls player and wingman, improved AI, landings, sequencing
• Mission 11 - Chemical Alley - added immortal mode, improved gameplay, Enemy defences reduced, AAA FX improved, timings for tanker fixed
• Other bugs/errors corrected
• Mission End on mission fails has now been removed for ALL missions

I got an order from Sonic and I notice the second customer is in the East Village of San Diego, ordinarily not too bad, but it is right across the street from PetCo park and the Padres have a home game. I should have canceled, but I didn't think it was fair to the first customer or even another driver. I texted the customer asking would i be able to find a parking spot, I could park in front of the building, that was not a problem. Getting there was the nightmare I expected, just minutes before the first pitch. Streets blocked off, traffic pedestrians everywhere. I was only glad the Padres weren't playing the Dodgers with their legion of crazy fans, or the well behaved Giant or D'back fans, who come in droves. My customer did send me a text telling me he totally forgot the Padres had a home game. Had my dog not had an appointment at the vet, I might have stayed for the game. Padres beat the Mariners 10-3, and their fans stayed in Seattle.

Bit silly really but i was driving to a city centre and i was approaching a set of traffic lights and a bus swung out and nearly hit me and i was too concerned with the bus nearly hitting me to double check the lights and im stressed that it was red. It was green as i was approaching im pretty sure but not 100% sure there was also no cars coming the other way or anything. Im so anxious and to calm my anxiety down i found out there was no red light cameras and i was just wondering whether i’m going to be fine because im so stressed about getting a ticket and if someone reported me from a dashcam or something how long would it take for the ticket to come, or would they not even be interested in dashcam footage. I don’t even know why i’m stressed because im pretty sure it was green im just thinking worse case scenario here

I've just installed and activated a C500 security camera but have problems with the movement detection. I live close to a road and have detection areas defined over the entrance far from where the traffic is passing but movements are still triggered by passing cars even with the sensitivity set to 1. Any ideas what could be wrong apart from a crap camera?