Penny

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

If @mdk doesn't want me to assume their gender then I'll apologize and refrain from doing so again. Gordian knot cut!

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

.....did you just assume my gender?

@mdk

Yes, sorry my mistake.

Gah, I hate that word. "Problematic." But you're hitting at a real thing, which is actually bad and I wouldn't like at all. Just.... ya know. This (twitter writer's) post reminds me so much of this other masterpiece from CNN, which to me is more, uh..... problematic than anything else in the national dialogue.

@mdk

There is a perception out there that police cannot be depended upon to enforce the law consistently when it comes to people of color. I can certainly appreciate why people would have concerns about a 'crack down' on looters, particularly if 'looters' translates to 'black people' in the eyes of police. Calling it White Supremacy... I don't know if that is helpful. Calling all racism White Supremacy risks diluting the term, I'm not sure its technically inaccurate, I just don't know if it is rhetorically wise.

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

Me personally, you know, killing a dude over a TV is not on my to-do list.

@mdk

I'm sorry Mr MDK but you just don't seem mentally suited to police work. We are really looking for someone who has fewer qualms about murdering unarmed civilians.

and if you disagree you're a nazi. Which, needless to argue, is a bit much -- but maybe there's a point in there somewhere. How much do you have to appreciate law and order before you're a nazi?

@mdk

It seems to me it rather depends on how it is executed. If police are cracking down on looters then fine but if they are targeting black folk because they are wandering around (or salvaging stuff) and fit the mental profile of 'looter' then it becomes more problematic.

The Sunday Group

If you want to make another post before we leave or while we are enroute go ahead :)

Dogs of War: Old World Mercenaries

Camilla considered killing Ivan Petrovich. It wasn't the first time the thought had crossed her mind, or even the forty first but, as usual, the plan foundered on the same points of logic. Ivan was a big man, and thus the logical choice for her to eat if this went on to long. Secondly, if a storm came up, his bulk would provide much needed buoyancy and last but not least it really had been a pretty good plan when it all started.

The Middle Sea, or maybe it was the Great Ocean, lapped playful at the wreckage as Camilla pushed herself reluctantly to her feet. The piece of wreckgage, formally a twenty foot section of hull from the Water Lilly, a trader from Brettonia bobed in the slight swell. Cydric sat in the improvised cross trees perhaps eight feet from the deck, keeping a look out for any sails or sight of land, Camilla didn't ask him if he saw anything, he certainly would have said so if he had.

The improvised raft was all that was left of the Water Lilly and as far as Camilla knew they were the only three survivors. For now anyway. It had rained last night and at least their water situation would be alright for the next couple of days. Still, they need to find land and soon. Camilla walked the ten feet towards the back of the raft and felt the morning sun being to prickle her skin. At times, she had been jealous of the pale skin of Imperial women, now she was thankful for her tan because an Altdorf Blond would be a mass of sunburn after three days adrift at sea.

At the back of the raft three lengths of kipper wire, salvaged from a barrel of salt fish trailed out into the ocean, Camilla pulled them in, hand over hand. Two were empty, the little morsels of fish gone from the hooks Ivan had improvised, but on the third flopped a fat but exhausted fish with silver scales. Camilla squealed with delight and pulled the thing aboard, braining it with the bottom of her dagger. At least their wood be breakfast. They could wait another day before eating Ivan.

@POOHEAD189

Dogs of War: Old World Mercenaries

Interlude

Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

Junebug ignored the babbling prisoner as she poked around the camp until she found what she was looking for. Uncermoniously she turned her back to the men, stripped off her shirt and upended a 40 gallon canteen of water over her body, allowing the tepid water to sluice away the worst of the blood and vicera from the earlier encounter with the local wildlife. She let it gush down over her hair and body for long moment before taking a few mouthfuls to cleanse the ozone taste of EM discharge from her mouth. Feeling significantly better she toweled herself off with a mostly clean blanket and then slipped on a spare shirt that had been drying on an improvised clothes hoist made of optic fiber cabling, her camo pants were still soaking wet but the tropical heat would dry them sooner or later.

"Sure," she said contemptuously as she finished pulling on the shirt and walked towards the two men. The sleeveless shirt more completely displayed the owl tattoo on her shoulder than the exercise shirt she had started the day with. As she walked she slipped into her armor and started fastening the catches. The intergeral unit informed her that that the drug the rebels had accidentally injected into her was a cortisol plasminogen cocktail for burns. No sweat, at least she didnt have to worry about crashing.

"And this is the part where we go along with your cunning plan and then you bolt and ditch us in the jungle. Do you take us for idiots?" Sayeeda sneered. She tossed the pistol into the woods as she settled her sub machine gun into place. Drake's mouth worked like a landed fish for a moment.

"No no no, nothing like that," he bleated, "I swear I'm on the level!"

"Said every con man ever," Junebug rejoined, reaching into her pocket and drawing out a needle stunner. Drake yelped again when he saw the weapon and tried to put the tree between himself and the mercenary.

"Look it's worth big bucks to the Terrans I swear big money!" Sayeeda paused and cocked an eyebrow. What in the Goddess' name did the Terrans have to do with anything. Still the very fact that he made the statement gave some validity to Drake's claim though. He could still be bullshiting of course but that seemed a level of bullshit too good for the man.

"Are you working for the Terrans then?" she asked, lowering the stunner despite her own better judgement. Drake emerged from behind his tree though he still held his hands up defensively infront of him and maintained a half crouch. Junebug wondered why he thought that would help.

"Yes. No. Listen I was going to set up an auction once I knew that the Earth Heads were interested in it, nothing final yet."

"Uh huh," Sayeeda said skeptically. She cast a glance at Neil, predictably he looked like an eager puppy about to be taken for a walk. It woudn't cost them anything to check out Drake's story they were somewhat ahead of schedule... Sayeeda stiffened suddenly as something changed in the ambient noise around them. Judging from their puzzled looks neither Neil nor Drake had heard it yet. Drake opened his mouth but she raized the stunner again and he fell silent. She held up a hand for quiet.

"Fuck," she said and shoved the stunner into her pocket. In a singal motion she drew a knife from her belt and cut Drake's bonds. The man squealed as though she intended to cut him and then staggered as she shoved him down the hill towards the narrow creek bed at the base of the slight rise.

"Go go go!" she yelled and grabbed Neil and gave im a similar shrug. Both men must have thought she was insane but the started moving which was the important thing.

"Incoming!" she yelled as she ran past them down into the creekbed. Instinctively she turned inland away from the distant keen of oncoming engines, now faintly audible even to those who hadn't spent years in situations where your life depended on recognizing the sound. They raced along the rocky bed of the creek, making far better time than the would in the open jungle. A few moments later a supersonic aircraft tore the sky overhead. It was too fast for Sayeeda's naked eyes to identify it but her helmet video caught a few instants of it and identified it at 98% certainty as a Terran Karlov Class Dropship. According to the scematic the Karlov was a low altitude insertion vehicle for commando units.

Sayeeda dropped back to run beside Drake. He wasn't as fit as she was but he was certainly motivated to move.

"Anything else about the Terran's you want to to tell us before I kill you, you son of a bitch? Like maybe why they are sending commandoes out after you?" she rasped.

@POOHEAD189

Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

Junebug ducked behind the bowl of one of the larger trees as the forest crashed with the sounds of rifle fire. The rebels initial panic was passing. They might be backworld scum, but they had been in enough firefights to have learned the basics. The survivors ducked behind the cover of crates, stumps and their large hover vehicle and began to fire up into the trees where they, correctly, guessed Neil was located. Sayeeda inwardly winced. Trees were poor positions because the enemy had just as good a line on you as you had on him, they provided no real cover, and they were difficult to fall back from. Already bullets were wicking through the foliage, showering the lower levels with leaves, twigs and splinters.

Well, she couldn't exactly fault him for tactical choice. It wasn't as though he was the only combatant on the field. A smile tugged and her lips as she peeked out from behind the tree bohle. The rebels had clearly dismissed her from thier minds once the shooting started, and no one had yet had time to figure out that Jorge was missing. One of the rebels was fumbling with the plasma rifle she had bought from the Highlander, a foolish move over using his own, more familiar, weapon but an understandable one. She sighted on the small of his back and then took up the trigger pressure on her stolen pistol. The slugthrower kicked harder than she had imagined and the recoil lifted the barrel. Rather than a clean shot through center of mass the round lifted the back of the rebels skull in a spray of pinkish gray mist. She fired again, this time judging the recoil correctly, the second rebel slumped bonlessly forward onto the log he had been using to sight.

Attacked from two angles, leaderless and with half their number down the rebels broke, unfortunately they still hadn't correctly figured Sayeeda's position and they fled towards the trailhead beside which she was sheltering. Neil's rifle continued to crack, either because he didn't realise they were running or he didn't see any reason to not put the boot in when the enemy was down. Sayeeda approved of the second option also.

With deliberate care she stepped onto the trail in the path of the four remaining rebels, their eyes were wide and it was doubtful they saw her before the pistol cracked, dropping the lead fugitive in a tangled heap over which the second man sprawled in gawky disorganization. Sayeeda ignored the fallen man and shot the next rebel, a bulky man with a grease stained mowhawk, through the right eye. The third man pitched forward, struck, she presumed from another round from Neil. Her lips tightened into a grimace, no body liked incoming rounds no matter how well intentioned.

"Please," whimpered the man still trying to untangled himself from the corpse on the ground.

"I surr..." Crack. Sayeeda shot him through the top of the head before he could finish and he slumped with a gurgle over the other corpse. For a moment the forrest was silent save for an odd chuffing sound. It took her a moment to identify the hysterical weeping of the prisoners she had seen on the way in. The barrel of the pistol glowed white from the extended firing and the air danced and distorted around the irridium battle. The acrid taste of ozone and the stink of blood and the voided bowels of dead men, a familiar cocktail, filled the air.

"All Clear!" Junebug yelled, waggling the pistol slightly to help with cooling.

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

If anything we should be outraged that it's such plain-ass porn. Ted Cruz looks like a kinky fuck.

@Fabricant451

Yeah Ted! Live a little in between trying to restrict women's reproductive rights and gutting the healthcare system!

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

Ted Cruz probably watches porn and masturbates. He is a human (or at least identifies as one). Not a particularly huge deal.