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sunflowerspectre · 3 years

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Hellfire and Ectoblasts

For @cleanlenins

Title: Hellfire and Ectoblasts Fandom: Danny Phantom x Lucifer Summary: The devil works hard, but Vladimir Masters works harder. When Vladimir Master dabbles in dealing favors to others to get his way - much easier than constantly possessing everyone - Lucifer Morningstar has a few choice words for the business tycoon. Rating: T for cursing (multiple uses of the F word, mentions of drug abuse) Final Word Count: 5005 Ft. Uncle/Redeemed Vlad AU

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Los Angeles is new territory, despite all the places Vladimir Masters has traveled. He has drunk martinis in the sands of Bahamas, made deals in Cancun, and has a passport larger than most politicians. He has even traveled further into the Ghost Zone than most of the fully ghosts there.

Yet the city of angels has always eluded him, or rather he eluded it. It never quite appealed to him, with the oddities and gaudy casinos. It felt almost beneath him and it has, honestly, never been on his priority list - at least, not until now.

Business is business and Vlad Masters will always go where business is; even if it is in a city like Los Angeles. Even if it is with an admittedly annoying sixteen year old teenager for a long extended amount of time.

Honestly, what was he thinking when he wanted Daniel as a son? He should have gone after Jasmine, he begrudges. At least she knew when to be quiet.

“Are we there yet?”

Vlad feels his eyebrow twitch, a vein throbbing in his neck. Daniel Fenton has the nerve to look at him with large innocent, doe eyes as if that is not the hundredth time he has asked that question in the past hour.

His somewhat nephew had jumped on the chance to go to LA with him; he would have been more suspicious of Daniel’s intention if not for the fact that the space shuttle endeavor will be within one quick bus ride from their hotel. As challenging, and even powerful, as Daniel can be - he is very much an open book that has been quite easy to read.

Danny opens his mouth, as if to ask that infuriating question again, but is stopped short by a small ecto blast. The ectoplasm effectively sticks against his mouth and despite the way he claws it, it refuses to budge. He settles for crossing his arms in a huff with a narrow glare. He idly considers it for a moment before a middle finger raises in contempt.

“Curse at me all you want, Daniel, but I refuse to listen to that infernal question the entire trip.”

Danny’s body language makes it clear that he is mocking him. Vlad waits until his fit is over before removing the ecto blast. Danny, huffing about being cut-off, leans back into the seat of the private jet. When he glances out the window, catching glimpses of clouds, he can not help but think wistfully how much better it would be to be flying Airline Danny. Jets, private or otherwise, are too confining now that he knows what it feels like to touch clouds.

He bets that the skies of Los Angeles is beautiful up close. He absently wonders if he gets far away enough to the nearby desert if he will be able to get a good view of the stars. The Orion constellation, not to mention a few planets like Venus and even Saturn, should be more visible here than it would be in Amity Park. He wonders if he flies high enough if he can get a good picture with a smartphone.

“Why are you going to LA anyway? Don’t you have enough money that you don’t need to be blowing it at casinos? Or is that the whole point?”

He barely even spares Vlad a glance through the corner of his eyes, arms crossed lazily against his chest as his cheek presses against the cool glass of the window. While being with Vlad is not the worst thing in the world - at least not anymore - he can not help but wish he would’ve been able to bring Sam and Tucker along. He imagines that they would be thrilled to go somewhere that’s not the Nasty Burger. At the very least, they would be better conversationalists.

Well, I guess it’s at least fun to mess with him, Danny thinks wistfully, a more devious smile on his face. If anything, it is a great way to pass the time. Messing with Vlad has always been a treasure, but now with little repercussions, at least nothing that compares to the way he used to threaten to kill his dad, it is like the entire world is his oyster.

“You can never have enough money, young badger.”

Danny coughs something into his elbow that sounds suspiciously like ‘ eat the rich’. His eyes watch Vlad carefully with feign innocence, as if he never said anything at all. His elbow hides the large shit-eating grin threatening to break on his face.

Vlad makes a point to ignore the comment, continuing easily, “Since our - my -”

He struggles to find the right word, fumbling a bit with a strained look on his face. Mentions of the past have always been hard to bring up when he is, honestly, doing his best to move forward from it. He feels strained at the mere mention of how he behaved beforehand, somewhat even embarrassed by the things he tried to pull. He cannot be thankful enough that the Fentons, including even Daniel, have even given him this second chance. The young badger’s trust is not an easy thing to earn.

“ Your redemption arc,” Danny offers somewhat helpfully.

While not fond of the term, Vlad has to admit that he cannot think of a better phrase.

“-Yes.”

He accepts the term Danny offers with clenched teeth, “-and as such, possession has become quite unfavorable . I have taken up doing business the old-fashioned way.”

Danny turns to face him. His innocently blinking eyes do not fool anyone with the gleam of mischief shining brightly in them.

“-Legal suits and proper paperwork?”

Vlad snaps at him suddenly, a vein throbbing in his forehead as he regrets taking off the ecto-gag.

“Oh will you - stop that?”

The outburst sends Danny reeling into a laughing fit, clenching his sides tightly.

__________________________________

Danny’s smartass comments cost him; though, in his opinion, it was absolutely worth it. To his dismay, Vlad drags him along through the city of angels instead of leaving him at the hotel. He claimed he needed to meet a new potential business partner. He gave an entire speech of how it would be good for him to learn how the business world works, but Danny can only recall maybe the first few sentences of said speech. Vlad even went as far as stuffing Danny into the most uncomfortable expensive clothes that he could find. Honestly, couldn’t the man at least get comfy expensive clothes? Gucci makes sweat suits. He makes a mental note to send some links to Gucci sweat suits to Vlad later.

Comfy or not, he still would have preferred to have just headed straight to the space shuttle endeavor. At least then, he would be in ghost form most of the time anyway. It would have been a ten - maybe fifteen - minute flight himself from their hotel room; he even promised Vlad that he would stay invisible the whole time and not touch anything he was not supposed to. A promise that was hard to give since oh man did he want to touch the shuttle just to say he touched something that was in space. He even begged his uncle. Slipped in a few mentions of how his mom would be so happy if he was able to go and get pictures.

He almost got him too, but alas, his efforts were in vain. Instead, he is stuck in a limo. It is not a bad thing in and of itself, but even a luxurious car feels suffocating when you want to be somewhere else.

He eyes the protesters lining up on certain streets. Sam would have loved it here. He keeps track of all of the ‘trendy’ vegan cafes he spots along the way for future reference; he even spots a few goth-centric stores. He snaps a few pictures, sending them over their group chat. He follows them up with pictures of pictures of every BBQ stand he finds for Tucker’s sake.

Sam: Still with the ex-villain?

Danny snorts, scooting away from Vlad as much as he could before snapping a picture of his unsuspecting ex-arch nemesis. Vlad visibly sighs, the exhaustion showing on his face as he does not even bother to look at Danny anymore.

Tucker: Someone looks like he’s having a great time

Danny: He’s with me, of course he’s having a great time. I’m a joy to be around. An absolute blast.

Tucker: Isn’t every party you’ve gone to nowadays a bit - dead?

Danny audibly groans at the bad attempt at puns, sending a quick message of how puns are his thing; it’s his whole shtick. But like all group chats do, the conversation grows dead pretty fast.

He is already growing bored again after having sent all the memes he could find ( and how dare they not laugh react at them) . He settles for rolling the window up and down obsessively, occasionally even sticking his head through it. When that adrenaline rush is short-lived, he ends up leaning against the door while obnoxiously clicking the window button repeatedly until Vlad is forced to ask the limo driver to put on the child lock. He considers the idea of just phasing his head through the window, but as weird as LA is, he thinks even that would be a stretch.

He could just phase away entirely. After all, the limo is not ghost proof. Vlad even got rid of most of his more outrageous contraptions and traps so he knows that the seat will not suddenly grow restraints if he tries to get up from it. He wonders if the oddity shop that they passed is still open? He did promise everyone souvenirs and the weirder the better (as is the whole point with souvenirs).

But he also promised his mom that he would get along.

Besides, Vlad said he would pay for lunch when they are done and they passed the most delicious looking burger place.

After what feels like forever, watching all the places he wants to go but can’t right now like a sad puppy begging for the window to be let down, the limo finally pulls up in front of a nightclub. LUX. Danny raises a brow. He may not be the smartest out of his family, but dead languages are his specialty. He glances to Vlad, wondering if he should be more concerned about his pseudo-uncle doing business here. Any nightclub named after light that looks this shady can not be good.

He is also pretty sure that he just saw a drug deal around the corner and some of the people in line already look under the influence of something .

“Am I even allowed here,” Danny questions, pausing a moment to count on his fingers, as they exit the limo. “I’m only like - sixteen? I am a literal child. ”

Vlad continues walking as if he does not hear Danny’s voice grating on behind him. Somehow, the teenager has a voice that seems to stick out like a sore thumb against the boom of the music coming out from the club’s doors.

“You are not a child, Daniel,” Vlad finally acknowledges.

“Uh the law would disagree, sir,” Danny waves a finger after him, “I am a minor.”

The sun is already starting to set, which means the club is steadily filling up; a majority of people are still out in long lines outside of the club’s door. He glances at them briefly, if in a bit of curiosity at the club wear. He blushes wildly at some of the more out-there club wear and focuses quickly on the fact that Vlad is steadily getting ahead of him.

“We are not here for drinking, Daniel,” Vlad’s voice comes out a bit exasperated as he fixes his tie. He eyes the people in line with a bit of disdain, but otherwise ignores them.

Vlad continues on past the lines, not acknowledging the way that some of them call after him. He keeps his hands in his pockets as he gets closer to the crowd; Danny realizes that it likely has something to do with the high possibility of getting pick-pocketed. After all, Vlad does not exactly blend in, but neither does Danny in the suit that Vlad forced him in.

Danny is close in tow as they head straight for the bouncer at the door.

If Vlad was not so used to the way that Maddie could ( has and absolutely will) beat him, he would have been more surprised at the woman at the club’s door. The choice being a bit abnormal in the job. Her intimidating presence is enough to make most of the more pushy people at the front second-guess themselves. A few of the people who dare to test the boundary of the velvet rope quickly change their mind as she just glances at them. Danny’s first thought is how much Sam would like the bouncer. The entire leather outfit is just something that feels like she would like, compared with how tough the woman seems to be. If the woman didn’t scare him so much, he would have tried to take a picture.

His second thought, however, is how off she feels. The closer he gets to her, the more his core vibrates deeply in his chest. As if it is trying to transform and get him out of there, like an animal’s instincts to a predator. Run. RUN. RUN. He digs his heels into the ground and refuses to listen to his gut. He refuses to let his gut determine what he thinks about someone, or how he acts on them. He learned the hard way to control that impulse.

Besides, she does not seem that dangerous - he thinks? He glances to the knives strapped to her thigh and the mean look in her eyes. Mostly. But his ghost sense has never gone off. That means that possession is off the table - so is her being a ghost. But he has never felt his core vibrate this way, in such a paralyzing instinctual fear. The only thing that comes close is when he faced Pariah.

Danny is sure that Vlad notices it too, he is way too smart not to. Vlad’s expressionless face does not give a single thing away, staring straight on even as the woman looks him over closely, a sneer on her face. Something about the way she bares her teeth feels more like a threat, as if she is prepared to rip your throat out herself at any given moment. The worst part is that it feels like that is something she is very much capable of doing. She gets startlingly close to Vlad’s face, sniffing him. He refuses to flinch and let this woman know how much she intimidates him.

He seems to pass whatever test she was giving him. Finally she just snorts, taking the card that he offers her. Danny only catches a glimpse of the red and gold lining against black with some sort of name written on it. He barely sees the flash of some sort of horned symbol on the edge. Just who is Vlad doing business with anyway?

Whatever the card is, it works. She backs off, crossing her arms against her chest as she moves out of the way of the door to let them through. The glare she gives some of the people at the front of the line scares them out of even thinking about shoving their way in through the open door.

Danny sticks close to Vlad’s side this time, feeling the urge to get as far away as he can from the woman. He is not sure if she will stop him. He would love to get out of this situation with Vlad, but he would hate that it meant staying anywhere near the woman. The wild beating of his core is getting worse and it feels like he can’t breath.

He is unsure if he can handle being around her much longer with his core acting up like this. He feels like he is this close to a heart attack.

“You smell weird, but whatever. He’s inside.”

He smells weird, Danny wonders how she can smell anything especially when all he can smell is all the people around them not wearing deodorant. He tries his best to brush it off as some sort of intimidating tactic. But when Danny passes by the woman, she leans forward, visibly sniffing him as well.

“Sorry it’s my - uh - aftershave,” Danny’s panicked lie confuses even him as he just waves at the woman as he enters the club, finally taking a deep breath in as the door shuts behind him.

Still thoroughly weirded out by whatever that was, something that does not improve when he’s suddenly surrounded by drunks and loud blaring music, he sticks abnormally close to Vlad. The people surrounding them are too drunk to notice when he phases through the elbows that are just too close to him or the shoulders that almost bump into him. Vlad looks back at him briefly, a ghost of a smile on his face, before he turns attention to the crowd.

“Whatcha looking for? The bar? Drugs? A confessional?” Danny asks as they finally reach a section that gives them some elbow room. He brushes off imaginary dirt, and not so imaginary something , off of his shoulders.

“My business partner,” Vlad answers curtly, eyes still scanning the crowd. He knows what he’s looking for, despite not having met the man before.

When Lucifer Morningstar reached out to him, insisting that they meet in person to discuss business, Vlad almost brushed him off. However, a combination of the man’s obsession with the devil and the fact that Lucifer Morningstar’s very identity doesn’t go back any further than a few years intrigued him. How does a man who legally has only been around for a few years get so ahead in the business world? More importantly, who is he really?

“What does he look like, maybe I can help.” Danny offers, looking over the crowd as if he would suddenly be able to who they are looking for.

“It is our first business meeting, I’m afraid, but if he looks anything like his photos, you can’t miss him.”

That gets Danny’s attention. He swerves suddenly on Vlad, jutting his hands out to form a T, his fingers press against his palm, “Whoa, time out! You brought me to a business meeting with someone you never met before? How do you even know the guy’s like, I don’t know, a ghost hunter?”

“You're a paranoid teenager, young badger.” Vlad’s voice is dry with a lack of amusement, “I’ll have you know that I reach all my partners quite well. Lucifer Morningstar is nothing more than a lunatic, however he is quite popular with our mutual partners.”

“ Lucifer,” Danny harshly whispers, his voice only half-way kidding, “Don’t tell me you actually made a deal with the devil?”

Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise him if Vlad did - if such a thing is really possible - but it would put a strain on their now alliance. Vlad’s about to retort, likely something along the lines of you’re being ridiculous Daniel, but he gets cut off prematurely by another voice.

“Well not yet, but let’s see if that changes today, shall we?”

A particularly British voice gets their attention as a man in a well fitted suit, looking vastly more comfortable in it than Danny is, struts their way. Despite looking like every other business man he’s seen, the man doesn’t feel like the usual stuffy suit type. He feels dangerously charismatic, with an easy smile on his face and a magnetic pull that makes it difficult to turn their attention away from him. He has a few beautiful women, and at least one man, at his side. He whispers something that Danny wishes he didn’t hear, to each of them before they regretfully leave his side.

“You must be Vladimir Masters.” The tone of voice is not a compliment, coming off more mocking, “Look at you, a bit older than I expected, but ultimately age is never an issue. Provided you’re at least an adult.”

The sultry look that the apparent Lucifer Morningstar has as he looks Vlad up and down appreciatively reminds Danny too much of how Vlad used to look at his mom. He starts to feel sick to his stomach, gagging exaggeratingly in the background as he tries his best to ignore the way his core has returned to vibrating, thumping hard against his chest.

Whatever the woman at the door was, Lucifer Morningstar must be at least the same thing - or something close to it - to make his core react the same way. He should be more concerned over it, but he glances toward Vlad. He looks stony as ever, the only sign of discomfort being a vein beginning to throb on his neck. Ah, so he does notice.

He doesn’t seem surprised either. Danny wonders if this is some sort of test again, to see what he will do and how he will react. Especially in front of an unknown factor. Shit. Danny curses when he realizes that’s why Vlad brought him along in the first place and then curses again - more directed at Vlad himself this time - for Vlad being as cryptic and vague as Clockwork.

I just wanted to see the endeavor, Danny bemoans as the man ushers Vlad (and by extension, Danny) to a clear booth. Taking Vlad’s lead, Danny acts more confident this time around, trying his best to act like every inch of his being isn’t screaming to run.

“Drinks,” Lucifer offers, seeming comfortable in the booth with his arms stretched out wide against the edge of the seat across from Danny and Vlad. While Vlad accepts the offer, ordering a simple old fashion, Danny speaks up with a cheeky grin.

“I’ll have a coke on the rocks,” Danny orders, showing a lot of teeth in his grin as he gives finger guns, of all things. After a pause, he adds on, “Not shaken nor stirred, please.”

Vlad’s exasperated sigh is barely audible as he breathes out through his nose. At the very least, he should be glad that Danny is acting normal - as awkward and tiring as normal is.

“I must admit Mr. Morningstar, I was a bit surprised to receive your invitation,” Vlad speaks easily. He politely sips at his drink, but otherwise leaves it untouched, more focused on the conversation. He tries to not let his eye twitch when he hears Danny suck up his coke through a straw.

Lucifer looks at Danny in amusement, seemingly unoffended by the teenager’s manners (a small blessing). Unlike Vlad, Lucifer doesn’t shy away from his own drink, downing it easily. He orders a few more at one of the ladies passing by, followed by flirtatious compliments that make her giggle and once again, makes Danny wish that he couldn’t hear what was being said.

“Well how could I not invite a man such as yourself, Vladimir,” Lucifer’s voice is exaggerated, almost strained, “Or is it Vlad? Vladdy?”

Vlad does twitch at that and Lucifer grins, “Vladdy it is. Better than douchebag, I suppose.”

Danny snorts at the sudden word, laughing hard enough that he barely stops the coke from pouring out of his nose. He takes in a deep breath, wiping at his face with a cocktail napkin as his nose burns from the soda.

“I prefer to use the term fruit loop,” Danny speaks up helpfully.

Lucifer seems delighted at this information, his eyes lighting up in glee as Vlad visibly sinks into the seat.

“ Fruit loop,” Lucifer repeats gleefully, “Lacks a bit in curse words for my liking but fruit loop it is!”

“You can always say fucking fruit loop,” Danny offers as if he is still being helpful, the grin on his face more genuine, “Or fruit by the fucking loop?”

Lucifer’s laugh is infectious, his eyes gleaming as Danny joins him in laughter at Vlad’s expense. For a moment, the two continue back and forth before Vlad is forced to intervene; the vein is his neck is more noticeably throbbing at this point.

“Mr. Morningstar,” Vlad cuts in, his voice stern, “What exactly was the point of the invitation, if I may? I hope it wasn’t to just call me outrageous names.”

Lucifer nonchalantly waves off Vlad’s growing ire, “Oh no, I invited you over for much more than just that. Favors, you will find, are my specialty. One could say it’s my whole business. I grant favors and I do not take kindly to others who sneak up on my business and steal it away.”

There’s a flash of something in Lucifer’s eyes. Something dangerous. As brief as it is, it’s enough to make Danny’s core hum against his chest, his hand grips his knee tightly. His eyes flicker to Vlad and as much as the older man is trying to hide it, Danny can tell that he’s just as suddenly bothered by whatever that was.

“It’s the point of the matter, you know,” Lucifer continues, “Steal my business, shame on me, steal my shtick, shame on you.”

He downs another glass and grabs something off a platter as someone passes by. It looks suspiciously like a joint. He lights it up without a second thought; Danny tries his best to act like he doesn’t know what it is as Vlad eyes him through the corner of his eyes.

“Word is that you, Vladimir Masters, have been sneaking around granting favors to a chosen few. I don’t know how you grant said favors, I don’t particularly care. But I do wish you would stop.”

The dangerous aura that’s thick in the air is heavy, but the realization that Vlad has still been up to shady business is heavier. Danny slumps into the seat, leaning forward with a heavy sigh.

“So you have been up to shady shit,” Danny mumbles under his breath as he absently stirs the straw in what has to be his third glass of coke.

“If you don’t stop,” Lucifer continues, “I’m afraid I’ll have to make you stop. If Mazikeen does not get to you first.”

He gestures his thumb toward the woman that was outside the door; she hovers nearby as if she knows exactly what they’re talking about. The grin on her face is malicious, bordering on feral as she twirls a knife across her knuckles without breaking eye contact. That woman is intimidating, Danny swallows thickly, but grins wildly at Lucifer.

“Oh he’ll stop,” Danny reassures the man before Vlad can even get a word in. There’s an edge to his words; a very clear message underlying his words. “Otherwise I’ll make him stop myself.”

A flash of ectoplasmic green swirls across his eyes. Vlad, not quite intimidated by a sixteen year old still going through puberty, simply mumbles under his breath, oh stop with the ‘scary’ eyes, Daniel, honestly. Lucifer catches the moment, eying them both with interest as he relaxes into the chair. He makes a motion with his hand and suddenly the woman - Mazikeen - isn’t there anymore; Danny isn’t sure where she went, if he should be worried about it, or if it was a sign of good faith.

“ You are a very interesting child,” Lucifer says, “At first I thought you two may have been one of mine, but that’s not really the case is it?”

Danny isn’t sure what one of mine really means; he doesn’t really want to know either. The way Lucifer says it feels off, as if he’s not concerned by it or that they would have been in worse trouble if they had in fact been one of his (whatever that means). Vlad recovers fast, eying Lucifer with narrowed eyes.

“Just what is it that you’re inferring, Mr. Morningstar?”

“Why, that you’re not human, of course!”

He says it as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, a large grin stretched on his face as he finishes off the suspicious joint, making a point to blow the smoke away from them. It may have been a trick of the light, or even just a magic trick, but Danny swears that the smoke formed some sort of devilish face. Complete with the horns and all.

Danny’s grin falters as he watches Lucifer closely.

F-uck-ing typical. At this rate, he will never get to see the endeavor or any other of California’s space museums. Why can’t he have just one normal road trip for once? No circus ringleader, no reality altering devices, no ghosts, and no ghost hunters. He just wants to get a selfie with a space shuttle, order as much hotel food as he can off of Vlad’s card, and then crash. Maybe even go to the Griffith Observatory. Fly to the Hollywood sign. Sneak into a Disney park and take a selfie on top of Cinderella’s castle. Just a normal trip (with a few added advantages to being a half-ghost boy). Now, he has to instead worry about some devil-obsessed (but definitely weird and maybe not human at all) club owner finding out his secret.

This is exactly what Danny told Vlad; meeting someone you don’t know is just a risk. At the very least, Lucifer doesn’t look like a ghost hunter. He definitely doesn’t fit the M.O. of a Guys In White agent. There could be other agencies out there though, other people who want to hunt them down. Who knows, maybe whatever this guy really is likes to eat ghosts or hunt them for sport. This is exactly what he was concerned about. Now, his secret, and Vlad’s secret too he supposes, could be blown all because Vlad had to go make a shady business deal.

Danny turns to Vlad, not even bothering to whisper as his voice cuts through the loud music.

“I told you so.”

#danny phantom #lucifer #crossover #fanfic #fic #fanfiction #x-over #uncle vlad #vlad masters #au

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brookstonalmanac · 3 years

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Events 5.16

946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan. 1204 – Having been elected on May 9, Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire. 1426 – Gov. Thado of Mohnyin becomes king of Ava. 1527 – The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic. 1532 – Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England. 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England. 1584 – Santiago de Vera becomes sixth Governor-General of the Spanish colony of the Philippines. 1739 – The Battle of Vasai concludes as the Marathas defeat the Portuguese army. 1770 – The 14-year-old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste, who later becomes king of France. 1771 – The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The "Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina. 1811 – Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and United Kingdom, defeat the French at the Battle of Albuera. 1812 – Imperial Russia signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War. The Ottoman Empire cedes Bessarabia to Russia. 1822 – Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli. 1832 – Juan Godoy discovers the rich silver outcrops of Chañarcillo sparking the Chilean silver rush. 1834 – The Battle of Asseiceira is fought, the last and decisive engagement of the Liberal Wars in Portugal. 1842 – The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 100 pioneers. 1866 – The United States Congress establishes the nickel. 1868 – The United States Senate fails to convict President Andrew Johnson by one vote. 1874 – A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people. 1877 – The 16 May 1877 crisis occurs in France, ending with the dissolution of the National Assembly 22 June and affirming the interpretation of the Constitution of 1875 as a parliamentary rather than presidential system. The elections held in October 1877 led to the defeat of the royalists as a formal political movement in France. 1888 – Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances. 1891 – The International Electrotechnical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, and will feature the world's first long-distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electric current (the most common form today). 1916 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic sign the secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria. 1918 – The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later. 1919 – A naval Curtiss NC-4 aircraft commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight. 1920 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc. 1929 – In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards ceremony takes place. 1943 – The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends. 1951 – The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines. 1959 – The Triton Fountain in Valletta, Malta is turned on for the first time. 1960 – Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser (a ruby laser), at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. 1961 – Park Chung-hee leads a coup d'état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea. 1966 – The Communist Party of China issues the "May 16 Notice", marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. 1969 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet space probe, lands on Venus. 1974 – Josip Broz Tito is elected president for life of Yugoslavia. 1988 – A report by the Surgeon General of the United States C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine. 1991 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress. 1997 – Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire, flees the country. 2003 – In Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks. 2005 – Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote. 2011 – STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour. 2014 – Twelve people are killed in two explosions in the Gikomba market area of Nairobi, Kenya.

#Events

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thzmttkk · 3 years

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FAVOURITES 2020

Long list of this years favourites. Spotify playlist via this link here. Buy Music Club link for albums here. Special mention to Sferic, Experiences Ltd, Youth, Motion Ward, West Mineral, and XPQ? who pushed nothing but cool stuff this year. Same for an unstoppable flow of spaced out mixes by Perila, Pontiac Streator, Special Guest DJ, Ben Bondy, Exael, Aeriform, J, JS, mdo etc. Too many to list them all really. Most listened albums (a-z) buymusic.club link Actress - 88 ( Self Released ) ASC - Isolated Systems ( Samurai Music ) Civilistjävel! - Generalstrejk ( Low Company ) CS + Kreme - Snoopy ( The Trilogy Tapes ) DJ Python - Mas Amable ( Incienso ) DVS1 - Beta Sensory Motor Rhythm ( Axis ) Israel Vines - And Now We Know Nothing ( Interdimensional Transmissions ) Jake Muir - The Hum Of Your Veiled Voice ( Sferic ) K-Lone - Cape Cira ( Wisdom Teeth ) Koraal - La Casa del Volcán ( Nous’klaer Audio ) LF58 - Alterazione ( Astral Industries ) Move D & Benjamin Brunn - Let's Call It A Day ( Smallville ) Perko - City Rings ( Numbers ) Piezo - Perdu ( Hundebiss ) Pontiac Streator - Triz ( Motion Ward ) Regis - Hidden In This Is The Light That You Miss ( Downwards ) Romeo Poerier - Hotel Nota ( Sferic ) Sockethead - Harj-o-Marj ( Youth ) Soft Boi - So Nice ( Climate Of Fear ) Terrence Dixon - From The Far Future Pt. 3 ( Tresor ) Tolouse Low Trax - Jumping Dead Leafs ( Bureau B ) Ulla - Tumbling Towards A Wall ( Experiences Ltd. ) URA - Blue ( NAFF ) Favourite mixes (a-z) Agonis - INVEINS \ Podcast \ 061 link Bake with Lewis Lowe (Redstone Press) - 30 November 2020 link Bake with Wonja - 28 September 2020 link dBridge - Essential Mix 2020-02-01 link Dino Sabatini - Global Vibe Radio 227 link Erika - vurt podcast 23 link F-on - Alpenglühen #54 link Forest Drive West - Bleep Mix #131 link Garçon - Dekmantel Podcast 284 link Garçon - MNMT 277 link GiGi FM Presents Azu Tiwaline NTS 11/11/20 link Jane Fitz - isolatedmix 97 We Fall Into The Sun link Joe Ellis - Phonons Podcast 065 link Jon K - Cav Empt /// TTT TOKYO Tape link Joy Orbison - wooly window sessions part wun - UKG 4/4 +++ link Karl Meier - The Bunker Podcast 211 link Konduku - The Memoir — Page 46 link Lcp - Blowing Up The Workshop 111 ◆ re:st link Lemna - MNMT Recordings: Lemna (live) — Contact Tokyo link mad miran - a message of manifestation, from the music room link mad miran - clone records x radio radio x ade link mdo - Knekelhuis 63 link Milo Bragg - Campfire Stories 79 (A New Dawn) link Milo Bragg - Club Rooted #1 link Nadia Khan - RA.710 Nadia Khan link Objekt - Essential Mix 2020-06-06 link Patrick Russell - IT.podcast.s09e01: No Way Back Streaming link Patrick Russell - Patterns of Perception 76 link Pessimist And That w/ DJ Python - Noods Radio - EPISODE 9 link Spekki Webu - RA.714 link Toki Fuko - Oslated Mix Episode 205 - Toki Fuko link upsammy - Bleep Mix #122 link Vlada - RA.742 link Woody92 - Patterns of Perception 68 link

Favourite tracks longlist (a-z) playlist Al Wootton - Snake Dance ( Livity Sound ) Andria - Komina ( Phase Group ) Archivist - Cinder Cone (Patrick Russel Remix) ( Second Nature ) Artefakt - Delphic ( Delsin Records ) ASC - Lost to the Void ( Samurai Music ) ASC - Orchid ( Samurai Music ) Azu Tiwaline - Terremer ( Livity Sound ) Batu - SYX ( Timedance ) Ben Bondy - Bodi ( Experiences Ltd. ) Ben Bondy - Lith ( Experiences Ltd. ) Black Merlin - MIEA ( Bitta ) Blâme - Bells ( [Re]Sources ) Blazer SoundSystem - Heavens Gate ( Youth ) BNJMN, rRoxymore - Atoms Speak - rRoxymore Remix ( Delsin Records ) Cio D’Or - Celestial ( Semantica ) Civilistjävel! - Generalstrejk ( Low Company ) Clarity - Taking Effect ( UVB76 ) CS + Kreme - Slug ( The Trilogy Tapes ) CS + Kreme - Blue Flu ( The Trilogy Tapes ) CUB - Dream Logic ( Osiris Music ) D.K. - The Three Realms ( Good Morning Tapes ) DB1 - Point Three ( Nullpunkt ) DJ Python - Alejandro ( Incienso ) DJ Python - oooophi ( Incienso ) DJ Python, LA Warman - ADMSDP ( Incienso ) Don't DJ, Harmonious Thelonious - Hambi ( Midnight Shift ) Donato Dozzy - Mai ( Samurai Music ) DVS1 - Drifting ( Axis ) DVS1 - The Five Aggregates ( Axis ) DYL, DB1 - ECOU #2 ( re:st ) DYL, DB1 - ECOU #12 ( re:st ) E-Unity - Not for Me ( TemeT Music ) Eszaid - The Most Sacred Syllable ( Good Morning Tapes ) Felix K - Deconstructor ( Nullpunkt ) Feral - Crossing ( Hypnus ) Flora Yin-Wong - Aurochs ( Modern Love ) Forest Drive West - Terminus ( R&S ) Forest Drive West - Hidden Past ( Mantis ) Franck Vigroux - Styx ( Raster ) Gavsborg - Making Love To Volca ( Equiknoxx Music ) Gavsborg, Shanique Marie - Earth & Clan ( Equiknoxx Music ) Grimescapes - Emergence ( Youth ) Haedong Seoungguk, D.K. - Daegeum Dosa (D.K. Huru Mix) ( Total Unity ) Henzo - Not Like That, Not Like You ( Worldwide Unlimited ) Higher Intelligence Agency - Sound Matter ( Headphone ) INTe*ra - Aqueduct B1 ( Acting Press ) Israel Vines - Tri Polar ( Interdimensional Transmissions ) Israel Vines - Path Correction ( Interdimensional Transmissions ) Jabu, Daniela Dyson - Slow Down ( Do You Have Peace? ) Jake Muir - Resevoir Of Memory ( Sferic ) Jake Muir - Fleeting Touches ( Sferic ) K-Lone - In The Pines ( Wisdom Teeth ) K-Lone - Bluefin ( Wisdom Teeth ) K-Lone - Honey ( Wisdom Teeth ) Karenn - On Request ( Voam ) KGIV - Blue Octavo ( Eye Teeth ) Konduku - Fallout ( IDO ) Konduku - Cipres ( Mantis ) Konduku - Şeker ( Disk ) Koraal - La Casa del Volcán 7 ( Nous’klaer Audio ) Koraal - La Casa del Volcán 9 ( Nous’klaer Audio ) Kӣr - Topot ( Disk ) Lack - RRRush ( Livity Sound ) Laksa - Fire Kit ( Hessle Audio ) Last Life - Escape ( Samurai Music ) LF58 - Metamorfosi ( Astral Industries ) Ligovskoï - Emeyo ( IDO ) Lo Kindre - Grey Skies (i) ( Phase Group ) LOG - LOG 4 ( Experiences Ltd. ) Low Budget Aliens - HOME SICK! ( XPQ? ) Lurka - Rhythm Hi-Tek ( Timedance ) Lurka - Clean ( Don’t Be Afraid ) Maayan Nidam - Untitled B2 ( Hellium ) Marco Shuttle - Ritmo Elegante ( Spazio Disponibile ) Meetsysteem - Je Wist Het Al ( Nous’klaer Audio ) Mike Parker - The Melting Mask ( Spazio Disponibile ) Monolake - Beirut ( Morphine ) Monolake - Espace Fourier ( Monolake ) Move D, Benjamin Brunn - C-Sick ( Smallville ) Nathan Melja, Pariah - Synesthesia - Pariah Remix ( Kalahari Oyster Cult ) natural/electronic.system. - Scirocco ( Tikita ) natural/electronic.system. - Marea ( Mantis ) NRLSD - Marching Band ( Man Band ) øjeRum - Prelude To The Immortality Of Nothing ( Opal Tapes ) OL - Block24 ( ГОСТ ИНСТРУМЕНТ ) Pan Sonic, Muslimgauze - Muslimgauze - Remix 2 ( Sahko ) Pearson Sound - Alien Mode ( Hessle Audio ) Perko - Stutter ( Numbers ) Perko - Pippin ( Numbers ) Pessimist - Love In The Jungle ( Ilian Tape ) Piezo - Blue Light Mama Magic ( Hundebiss ) Piezo - Amore Tossi ( Hundebiss ) Pontiac Streator - Triz Cohors Pt. 3 ( Motion Ward ) Pontiac Streator - Stuck In A Cave ( Motion Ward ) Primal Code - Elixir ( Hypnus ) RDS - Aro ( De Lichting ) Regis - The Sun Rose Pure ( Downwards ) Regis - Everything is Ahead of Us ( Downwards ) Regis - Eros in Tangiers ( Downwards ) Relapse - Two Worlds Colliding … ( Pinecone Moonshine ) Robin Stewart - Not Buoyant ( The Trilogy Tapes ) Roméo Poirier - Le bématiste ( Sferic ) Roméo Poirier - Du rocher ( Sferic ) Shed - Try ( Tectonic ) Significant Other - Little Blue Pills ( Oscilla Sound ) Simo Cell, Abdullah Miniawy - Caged in Aly's Body ( BFDM ) Skee Mask - Zzodiac ( Ilian Tape ) Sockethead - Love Loss Missing Yearning ( Youth ) Sockethead - In Search Of Truth ( Youth ) Sockethead - Jahiliyyah ( Youth ) Soft Boi - Something to Say ( Climate Of Fear ) Soft Boi - Guestlist ( Climate Of Fear ) Stave, Grebenstein - Rack 4 ( Standards & Practices ) Surgeon - The Golden Sea ( Ilian Tape ) SW. - theMARTIANswing ( Avenue 66 ) Tammo Hesselink - Ballet Mécanique ( Nous’klaer Audio ) Terrence Dixon - Unconditional Love ( Tresor ) Terrence Dixon - Program Weight ( Tresor ) Terrence Dixon - Earth Station ( Tresor ) The Untouchables - Pon A Dread ( Rupture London ) Tolouse Low Trax - Dawn Is Temporal ( Bureau B ) Tolouse Low Trax - Inverted Sea ( Bureau B ) Tolouse Low Trax - Berrytone Souvenier ( Bureau B ) Toma Kami - Gymnase Chaos ( Man Band ) Two Shell - Fracture ( Mainframe Audio ) Ulla - Leaves and Wish ( Experiences Ltd. ) Ulla - Feeling Remembering ( Experiences Ltd. ) Ulla - Soak ( Experiences Ltd. ) upsammy - Send-Zen ( Dekmantel ) URA - Dirge ( NAFF ) URA - Shojin ( NAFF ) Varuna - Ratu ( Mantis ) VC-118A - Plonk ( Delsin Records ) Via Maris - Lapse ( Timedance ) Wang Inc. - Gommone ( Random Numbers ) Waon-P - BRF dante2infelno - donfellianoeverythingmix ( The Trilogy Tapes ) Web - Ancient Wind ( Acido ) Yogg, Pharaoh, CUB - The Neverending Gever (CUB Version) ( Parallax ) YPY - Garando ( Acido )

#EOYList #eoy #endofyearlist #best of 2020 #bestof20

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tealin · 4 years

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Induction McMurdo

Here's the thing about arriving at McMurdo: It's kind of like diving into your first week at college. You have a series of orientation sessions, a bunch of classes in different buildings with random numbers, and you meet a lot of new people with names and roles that are hard to keep straight, while also being offered a wide range of interesting extracurricular activities and trying to navigate the intranet to find the information you need or missed along the way. On top of this, you have to learn the strict and unusual rules around getting your food and sorting your garbage, and adapt to the unwritten conventions and jargon of the society.

A starter: 155 – The big blue building which contains the Galley as well as a number of useful offices like Lodging, Gear Issue, and Recreation. Noticeboards and the Lost and Found are here too. Essentially the hub of the station. Galley – the cafeteria. To prevent spreading germs, one must always do time at the handwash station before entering the Galley, even if one has just been to the bathroom and thoroughly washed one's hands there. The handwash station is a regular rendezvous point. Crary – the building where most of the scientists have labs and/or offices. It has three sections, or 'phases,' connected by a downward sloping 'spine.' Phase 1, at the top of the slope and nearest 155, has an upper floor with a conference room-cum-library. My desk is in a dark little room just off the library, which has been set up with cubicles. The best views in McMurdo are from the library windows. MacOps – the communications hub, which handles radio traffic amongst other things. When you leave the station you have to check out with MacOps. The SSC – stands for Science Support Center. Lots of classes in the classroom here. Otherwise it's a staging area for science teams heading out into the field. The BFC – stands for Berg Field Center. The warehouse of supplies (tents, sledges, stoves, pee bottles, etc) and where things go to get repaired. Denizens of the BFC are a tribe unto themselves and they have a most atmospheric lair on the upper floor. Helo – pronounced hee-low: a helicopter Snow machine – a snowmobile The 203s – three interconnected dormitories, numbered 203a, 203b, and 203c. I am in 203c. They are two storeys; off a long corridor are about twenty double-occupancy rooms, with a bathroom for men and for women on each floor, and a common area on the ground floor. They are being torn down and replaced in March, so it is a bit surreal to be living there.

Here is what my first three days looked like:

Wednesday 13 November 16.30 – Arrive. Orientation video. Receive dorm assignment and keys.

17.15 – Get onboarded with IT, set up network login and WiFi access

17.30 – Walk up to the transport building to receive luggage and haul it (with vehicle and coordinator assistance) to dorm. Gratefully change out of bunny boots into regular boots and feel 20lbs lighter, possibly literally.

18.30 – Dinner with coordinator. Introductions to many new and exciting people.

19.30 – Science lecture in Crary; tonight's is about the ongoing study of Weddell seal pups and at which stage in development they acquire the skill of hyperoxygenating their tissues for long deep dives. A bespoke seal-sized metabolic chamber has been built for this purpose. The pups in the study are named after favourite candies.

21.00 – Stagger into bed

Thursday 14 November 06.45 – Meet coordinator for breakfast

07.30 – Inbrief at the Chalet (administrative hub) where department leaders and new arrivals introduce themselves and explain what they do.

09.00 – Harassment Awareness training. We had to do anti-harassment training every year at Disney and this 45-minute class was way better – insightful, pragmatic, realistic – than anything we did there. Well done, USAP.

10.00-12.00 – Me time. I think I tried to write up my journal.

12.00 – lunch with coordinator, meeting more new people

13.00-14.00 – more me time. I think I tried to answer some emails. It can take about five minutes to send and receive an email in HTML Gmail, on daytime McMurdo bandwidth, so it takes a while.

14.00 – picked up my communications radio, got briefed on how to operate it and the communications protocols. The comms team have a stuffed husky mascot named Apsley.

15.00 – Visited the Discovery Hut

16.00 – walked uphill against the wind back from Discovery Hut

17.30 – dinner, meet the other Artists & Writers under my coordinator's wing. They have just come back from the Dry Valleys. Ian Van Coller is a photographer; Todd Anderson is a photographer and printmaker. Together they are documenting the disappearing glaciers of the world. See The Last Glacier.

18.00 – History Club

21.00 – Collapse into bed Friday 15 November 06.45 – Breakfast

08.00 – I was supposed to take Core Training – the introductory briefing on ways and means of McMurdo (trash sorting, the water system, the taxi/shuttle system, medical centre, etc) but in light of the parlous state of the sea ice this year, my coordinator wanted to get me on a snowmobile ASAP so I was ushered instead into

09.00 – Snowmobile Theory, i.e. how to start it, how to drive it, how not to tip over going around corners. This was entirely indoors with a specimen snowmobile. The Snowmobile Practical would be a few days later but I had to have theory first, and there was an opening here.

12.00 – rendezvous with coordinator at my desk, then lunch

13.00-16.30 – Antarctic Field Training. This consisted of a series of lectures and videos interspersed with practical demonstrations, designed to familiarise oneself with the contents of one's survival bag, which is taken with you every time you leave base, in case you're waylaid by a blizzard. We learned how to set up and run the Whisperlight stove (similar in theory to a Primus but with the burner and fuel tank as separate entities) and set up the standard issue tent. I learned the extremely clever Trucker's Hitch knot and forgot it about half an hour after class ended. In fact it went much longer than the allotted time because the power kept going out whenever we tried to watch one of the several requisite videos, so eventually Helicopter Training was postponed to 7.30 the following morning.

18.00 – Dinner. Met the new arrivals from today's C-17, a film crew making an episode of the NatGeo-Netflix-Disney series One Strange Rock.* Despite the American commission, they are in fact British, and one of them was cameraman on the show about the restoration of the Cape Evans hut, which has hitherto been my best point of reference for that interior space. Instant friends. Power outages continued. Went to bed during one particularly long one.

Saturdays are work days here, so the schedule didn't let up then. The standard work day is 7.30 - 17.30, a ten-hour day which significantly favours morning people, of whose tribe I am not. One would think that, in 24-hour daylight, circadian rhythms would be more or less malleable, but I never succeeded in going to sleep before 10 or finding it easy to wake up before 7. People complain of a certain befuddlement in Antarctica – constantly losing things, inability to concentrate, loss of vocabulary – and they call it McMurdo Brain, but my experience of working 60-hour weeks at Disney makes me think it’s probably chronic low-grade exhaustion. When I stole time for a nap or was allowed to sleep in, I felt noticeably sharper.

This particular Saturday, after the makeup Helicopter class, was entirely given over to Sea Ice Training. That was such a full and interesting day that I will give it a post all of its own next week.

#mcmurdo #mcmurdo station #united states antarctic program #usap

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 4 years

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SpaceTime 20191106 Series 22 Episode 81 is now out … SpaceTime covers the latest news in astronomy & space sciences. The show is available as a free twice weekly podcast through Apple Podcasts (itunes), Stitcher, Google Podcast, Pocketcasts, SoundCloud, Bitez.com, YouTube, Audio Boom, your favourite podcast download provider, and from www.spacetimewithstuartgary.com SpaceTime is also broadcast around the world on both i-heart Radio and Tune-In Radio. SpaceTime daily news blog: http://spacetimewithstuartgary.tumblr.com/ SpaceTime facebook: www.facebook.com/spacetimewithstuartgary SpaceTime Instagram @spacetimewithstuartgary SpaceTime twitter feed @stuartgary SpaceTime YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SpaceTimewithStuartGary Today’s stories... Quantum squeezing to detect every stellar-mass black hole merger in the universe Scientists have found a way to detect virtually every stellar black hole collision in the universe by refining a technique called quantum squeezing. New evidence that the first stars formed very quickly Astronomers studying and ancient quasar have discovered a primitive gas cloud providing new clues about the birth of the universe’s first stars. A mission to slam an impactor into an asteroid NASA and the European Space Agency are planning a double mission to slam an impactor into a pyramid sized moon orbiting a mountain sized near Earth asteroid. Military space shuttle returns after a record breaking flight of over two years The United States Air Force’s X-37B space shuttle has returned to Earth after a record braking 780 days in orbit. The Science Report Paracetamol use during pregnancy linked to autism and ADGD in children. New study suggests disease could lie behind religious beliefs in good and evil. Warnings that global warming may increase undernutrition through the effects of heat exposure. A major game changer for the electric car. Dinosaur footprints suggest that one of the most common dinos preferred to chill at the beach. The dark and deadly side of the growing demand for so called healing crystals. Last Saturday’s show…. Construction about to begin for the Lucy trojan asteroid mission NASA’s Lucy mission to study Jupiter’s trojan asteroids has passed its final design review and has now moved into the construction phase -- bringing it one step closer to its 2021 launch date. Solar Orbiter on its way to the launch pad The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft has completed its test campaign in Europe and is now on its way to Cape Canaveral ahead of its launch in February 2020. ESA’s climate change effort Copernicus is the European Union's Earth observation programme. Operated by the European Space Agency – the Copernicus Sentinel satellites provide continuous monitoring of Planet Earth’s environment and how and why that’s being altered by climate change. No sign of India’s failed lunar lander NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has failed to find any trace of India’s Vikram lunar lander. November Skywatch This month brings us three meteor showers – the November Orionids, the Taurids, and the Leonids. SpaceTime Background SpaceTime is Australia’s most respected astronomy and space science news program – averaging over two million downloads per year. The show reports on the latest stories and discoveries making news in astronomy, spaceflight, and general science. SpaceTime features interviews with leading Australian scientists about their latest research. The show began life in 1995 as ‘StarStuff’ on ABC NewsRadio. Stuart Gary created the program during his 17 years as NewsRadio’s Science Editor, evening presenter, and news anchor. Gary wrote, produced and hosted StarStuff, consistently achieving 9 per cent of the national Australian radio audience share – based on the ABC’s Neilsen ratings survey figures for the five major Australian metro markets (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, & Perth). The StarStuff podcast was hosted by ABC Science online -- achieving over 1.3 million downloads annually. The program wrapped up in December 2015 after ABC funding was refocused towards greater sports and horse racing coverage. Rather than continue with the ABC, Gary decided to produce the show independently, rebranding it as SpaceTime. The first episode of SpaceTime was broadcast in February 2016.

#space #science #Astronomy #physics #starstuff #spacetimewithstuartgary #NASA #ESA #ASA-Australian Space Agency #abc starstuff

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scifigeneration · 6 years

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A decade of commercial space travel – what’s next?

by Joel Wooten

A Falcon 9 SpaceX heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Feb. 6, 2018. AP Photo/ John Raoux

In many industries, a decade is barely enough time to cause dramatic change unless something disruptive comes along – a new technology, business model or service design. The space industry has recently been enjoying all three.

But 10 years ago, none of those innovations were guaranteed. In fact, on Sept. 28, 2008, an entire company watched and hoped as their flagship product attempted a final launch after three failures. With cash running low, this was the last shot. Over 21,000 kilograms of kerosene and liquid oxygen ignited and powered two booster stages off the launchpad.

This first official picture of the Soviet satellite Sputnik I was issued in Moscow Oct. 9, 1957. The satellite measured 1 foot, 11 inches and weighed 184 pounds. The Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, into orbit, on Oct. 4, 1957. AP Photo/TASS

When that Falcon 1 rocket successfully reached orbit and the company secured a subsequent contract with NASA, SpaceX had survived its ‘startup dip’. That milestone – the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit – ignited a new space industry that is changing our world, on this planet and beyond. What has happened in the intervening years, and what does it mean going forward?

While scientists are busy developing new technologies that address the countless technical problems of space, there is another segment of researchers, including myself, studying the business angle and the operations issues facing this new industry. In a recent paper, my colleague Christopher Tang and I investigate the questions firms need to answer in order to create a sustainable space industry and make it possible for humans to establish extraterrestrial bases, mine asteroids and extend space travel – all while governments play an increasingly smaller role in funding space enterprises. We believe these business solutions may hold the less-glamorous key to unlocking the galaxy.

The new global space industry

When the Soviet Union launched their Sputnik program, putting a satellite in orbit in 1957, they kicked off a race to space fueled by international competition and Cold War fears. The Soviet Union and the United States played the primary roles, stringing together a series of “firsts” for the record books. The first chapter of the space race culminated with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing which required massive public investment, on the order of US$25.4 billion, almost $200 billion in today’s dollars.

Competition characterized this early portion of space history. Eventually, that evolved into collaboration, with the International Space Station being a stellar example, as governments worked toward shared goals. Now, we’ve entered a new phase – openness – with private, commercial companies leading the way.

The industry for spacecraft and satellite launches is becoming more commercialized, due, in part, to shrinking government budgets. According to a report from the investment firm Space Angels, a record 120 venture capital firms invested over $3.9 billion in private space enterprises last year. The space industry is also becoming global, no longer dominated by the Cold War rivals, the United States and USSR.

In 2018 to date, there have been 72 orbital launches, an average of two per week, from launch pads in China, Russia, India, Japan, French Guinea, New Zealand and the U.S.

The uptick in orbital launches of actual rockets as well as spacecraft launches, which includes satellites and probes launched from space, coincides with this openness over the past decade.

More governments, firms and even amateurs engage in various spacecraft launches than ever before. With more entities involved, innovation has flourished. As Roberson notes in Digital Trends, “Private, commercial spaceflight. Even lunar exploration, mining, and colonization – it’s suddenly all on the table, making the race for space today more vital than it has felt in years.”

Worldwide launches into space. Orbital launches include manned and unmanned spaceships launched into orbital flight from Earth. Spacecraft launches include all vehicles such as spaceships, satellites and probes launched from Earth or space. Wooten, J. and C. Tang (2018) Operations in space, Decision Sciences; Space Launch Report (Kyle 2017); Spacecraft Encyclopedia (Lafleur 2017), CC BY-ND

One can see this vitality plainly in the news. On Sept. 21, Japan announced that two of its unmanned rovers, dubbed Minerva-II-1, had landed on a small, distant asteroid. For perspective, the scale of this landing is similar to hitting a 6-centimeter target from 20,000 kilometers away. And earlier this year, people around the world watched in awe as SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket successfully launched and – more impressively – returned its two boosters to a landing pad in a synchronized ballet of epic proportions.

Challenges and opportunities

Amidst the growth of capital, firms and knowledge, both researchers and practitioners must figure out how entities should manage their daily operations, organize their supply chain and develop sustainable operations in space. This is complicated by the hurdles space poses: distance, gravity, inhospitable environments and information scarcity.

One of the greatest challenges involves actually getting the things people want in space, into space. Manufacturing everything on Earth and then launching it with rockets is expensive and restrictive. A company called Made In Space is taking a different approach by maintaining an additive manufacturing facility on the International Space Station and 3D printing right in space. Tools, spare parts and medical devices for the crew can all be created on demand. The benefits include more flexibility and better inventory management on the space station. In addition, certain products can be produced better in space than on Earth, such as pure optical fiber.

How should companies determine the value of manufacturing in space? Where should capacity be built and how should it be scaled up? The figure below breaks up the origin and destination of goods between Earth and space and arranges products into quadrants. Humans have mastered the lower left quadrant, made on Earth – for use on Earth. Moving clockwise from there, each quadrant introduces new challenges, for which we have less and less expertise.

A framework of Earth-space operations. Wooten, J. and C. Tang (2018) Operations in Space, Decision Sciences, CC BY-ND

I first became interested in this particular problem as I listened to a panel of robotics experts discuss building a colony on Mars (in our third quadrant). You can’t build the structures on Earth and easily send them to Mars, so you must manufacture there. But putting human builders in that extreme environment is equally problematic. Essentially, an entirely new mode of production using robots and automation in an advance envoy may be required.

Resources in space

You might wonder where one gets the materials for manufacturing in space, but there is actually an abundance of resources: Metals for manufacturing can be found within asteroids, water for rocket fuel is frozen as ice on planets and moons, and rare elements like helium-3 for energy are embedded in the crust of the moon. If we brought that particular isotope back to Earth, we could eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels.

As demonstrated by the recent Minerva-II-1 asteroid landing, people are acquiring the technical know-how to locate and navigate to these materials. But extraction and transport are open questions.

How do these cases change the economics in the space industry? Already, companies like Planetary Resources, Moon Express, Deep Space Industries, and Asterank are organizing to address these opportunities. And scholars are beginning to outline how to navigate questions of property rights, exploitation and partnerships.

Threats from space junk

A computer-generated image of objects in Earth orbit that are currently being tracked. Approximately 95 percent of the objects in this illustration are orbital debris – not functional satellites. The dots represent the current location of each item. The orbital debris dots are scaled according to the image size of the graphic to optimize their visibility and are not scaled to Earth. NASA

The movie “Gravity” opens with a Russian satellite exploding, which sets off a chain reaction of destruction thanks to debris hitting a space shuttle, the Hubble telescope, and part of the International Space Station. The sequence, while not perfectly plausible as written, is a very real phenomenon. In fact, in 2013, a Russian satellite disintegrated when it was hit with fragments from a Chinese satellite that exploded in 2007. Known as the Kessler effect, the danger from the 500,000-plus pieces of space debris has already gotten some attention in public policy circles. How should one prevent, reduce or mitigate this risk? Quantifying the environmental impact of the space industry and addressing sustainable operations is still to come.

NASA scientist Mark Matney is seen through a fist-sized hole in a 3-inch thick piece of aluminum at Johnson Space Center’s orbital debris program lab. The hole was created by a thumb-size piece of material hitting the metal at very high speed simulating possible damage from space junk. AP Photo/Pat Sullivan

What’s next?

It’s true that space is becoming just another place to do business. There are companies that will handle the logistics of getting your destined-for-space module on board a rocket; there are companies that will fly those rockets to the International Space Station; and there are others that can make a replacement part once there.

What comes next? In one sense, it’s anybody’s guess, but all signs point to this new industry forging ahead. A new breakthrough could alter the speed, but the course seems set: exploring farther away from home, whether that’s the moon, asteroids or Mars. It’s hard to believe that 10 years ago, SpaceX launches were yet to be successful. Today, a vibrant private sector consists of scores of companies working on everything from commercial spacecraft and rocket propulsion to space mining and food production. The next step is working to solidify the business practices and mature the industry.

Standing in a large hall at the University of Pittsburgh as part of the White House Frontiers Conference, I see the future. Wrapped around my head are state-of-the-art virtual reality goggles. I’m looking at the surface of Mars. Every detail is immediate and crisp. This is not just a video game or an aimless exercise. The scientific community has poured resources into such efforts because exploration is preceded by information. And who knows, maybe 10 years from now, someone will be standing on the actual surface of Mars.

About The Author:

Joel Wooten is Assistant Professor of Management Science at the University of South Carolina

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

#NASA #science #technology #space travel #space exploration #SpaceX

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tigermike · 2 years

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On this day in 1959, NASA announces the names of its first astronauts. The “Mercury Seven” were an elite group, selected only after an arduous application process.

Or maybe the word “arduous” is too kind. Applicant Pete Conrad would later say that he felt like a “lab rat.”

The selection process for astronauts began in December 1958 when NASA solicited and received applications from 508 military test pilots. Candidates’ service records, educational history, and total flying time helped NASA narrow the list down to 110 men. Interviews and written tests narrowed the applicant pool down yet again, this time to 32 pilots.

These men would spend the next few weeks enduring grueling physical tests, first in New Mexico, then in Ohio. The idea was to test their physical and mental endurance to see if they could handle the stress of space. But many felt that the tests went too far.

Candidate Jim Lovell would call his week in Albuquerque a “nightmare week,” while another candidate concluded that it was “an embarrassment, a degrading experience . . . sick doctors working on well patients.”

“In submitting to these whole-body violations,” Lovell later said, “the candidate astronauts would have their livers injected with dye, their inner ears filled with cold water, their muscles punctured by electrified needles, their intestines filled with radioactive barium, their prostate glands squeezed, their sinuses probed, their stomachs pumped, their blood drawn, their scalps and chests plastered with electrodes, and their bowels evacuated by diagnostic enemas . . . .”

The doctors likely had more reasons for their tests than the potential astronauts knew, but the doctors didn’t feel the need to explain themselves, either. It added to the candidates’ frustration. “Any questions like ‘What’s that for?’ were met by grunts,” candidate Gordon Cooper later said.

Would you believe that was just the first phase of the process? The next phase, in Ohio, tested physical endurance and psychological well-being.

Candidate John Tierney described the “torture machines” that followed.

“We would put on flight suits with a hole in the bottom,” he wrote, “and sit on a chair in an oven with a rectal thermistor inserted as the scientists cracked the kiln up to 130 degrees. Later, we sat in an airplane simulator as the operators on the outside tilted and shook the mockup violently. Inside, we were blindfolded, and had to use our other senses to keep the test craft level . . . .”

Psychologists and scientists hovered everywhere, taking notes as if the candidates were specimens in a lab.

Not everyone went along with it all the time, as when Conrad retorted to a psychologist that he couldn’t tell what was on a blank white card because “you’ve got it upside down.” Other men, though, simply endured. “Not that I liked any particular bodily examination or psychological test,” Tom Hayward said, “[but] the very compliment that I might have a chance at being chosen as one of the original astronauts made all this ‘part of the course.’”

In the end, 31 men passed the test. NASA officials would ultimately narrow the list down to 7. They’d only intended to select 6 pilots, but they found themselves stuck between two candidates at the end and took both.

The Mercury Seven were introduced to the country at a press conference on April 9, 1959: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton.

Members of the Mercury Seven would travel in all of NASA’s subsequent space programs, starting with Mercury and ending with John Glenn’s 1998 trip aboard the Space Shuttle.

Naturally, those are stories for another day.

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kaje665-blog · 5 years

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Sell Insurance Company

Your competition for purchasing a completely independent insurance agency is possibly the greatest among any niche for small company acquisitions. It's much more challenging if you are a agent that doesn't presently own an agency (i.e. not really a proper acquirer). My firm works regularly with agents across the nation around the valuation, purchase and purchase of insurance agencies so we see first hands what must be done to create deals happen. After talking to countless agency buyers, I made the decision to compile a summary of general "rules" to follow along with. Know more about Insurance Agency Valuations by visiting our website.

Rule #1: Know what you could afford

A customer once explained "a great agent dreams big", that is a great philosophy. With regards to buying an agency, you should be realistic. Generally, my guideline is the fact that a purchaser needs 20-25% associated with a potential purchase obtainable in cash to pay for the lower payment and operating capital to operate the company. Which means someone with $200k in cash could possibly acquire an $800k to $1M agency. Additionally towards the lower payment, you need to be in a position to borrow 50% from the purchase cost from a 3rd party to satisfy the seller's lower payment requirement. Although some transactions still include a lot of seller financing, it is less frequent using the elevated buyer competition and accessibility to 3rd party financing during the last decade.

Rule #2: Fall into line the cash

Most acquisitions have three parties involved: the vendor, the customer and also the financier. The 3 have to be pleased with the terms for any deal to occur. Some occasions the vendor may be the financier, other occasions it might be a trader, but frequently a 3rd party loan provider is involved. There are just a number of lenders that finance purchasing insurance agencies. Many are asset-based lenders (for example commercial banks), other medication is income lenders (for example Small business administration lenders) yet others are still commission-based lenders (for example Oak Street Funding). They all have different underwriting and deal structure guidelines. According to individuals guidelines, one loan provider may go for just one particular deal although not for an additional. You should know how each loan provider determines the things they will loan, what's needed of the customer, and also the structure that's allowable for that transaction. Many buyers miss great possibilities because they need to search lower financing while some have previously done this and move ahead expeditiously by having an offer. Furthermore, many deals go wrong because prospective buyers don't realize the loan provider needs and unknowingly make offers that they'll not complete.

Rule #3: Tips to negotiate

You cannot effectively acquire insurance agencies part-time or in a leisurely pace. Other buyers are extremely aggressive and might have people who work full-time on acquisitions. You might want to take a look at 15 potential possibilities to locate one that's a great fit. The final factor you would like is to locate a great one and miss the chance since you moved slower compared to competition. Without having time to dedicate to the procedure, but they are seriously interested in attempting to acquire agencies, then consider outsourcing. My firm contracts about one half-dozen highly qualified buyers at any given time running marketing campaigns for agencies round the country. We've been with the process a large number of occasions and be aware of challenges and potential pitfalls, so additionally to generating possibilities for the clients additionally they gain the advantage of our experience. At the minimum, possess a pro-active technique to find possibilities, review them diligently making a decision if you should pursue them.

Rule #4: Comprehend the process

The buyers that close transactions be aware of process and move ahead rapidly with full confidence. The procedure generally follows as a result: (1) Summary of the chance, (2) Disclosure by parties, (3) Discharge of info on the agency, (4) Meeting(s) using the seller, (5) Written offer and settlement, (6) Research, (7) Execution from the purchase contract and elimination of closing contingencies, (8) Closing, and (9) Publish-closing transition. Typically from beginning to end it's really a 3-180 day process to get at the closing once the parties are motivated.

Rule #5: "Show yours" to determine their own

The disclosure phase is to, the mark buyer, share details about yourself as well as your finances and sign a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement, and so the seller or his/her intermediary releases the required information for you concerning the business. Your initial goal ought to be to understand the personal finances, book of economic and operation from the business. The aim isn't to conduct research at this time. Any written offer ought to be susceptible to an intensive research process. Should you submit a laundry listing of questions before you make a deal, the vendor will likely weary or concentrate on another buyer. Buyers which are excessively risk-averse take 2-3 occasions more than a skilled buyer in continuing to move forward, which in turn causes the previous to overlook possibilities.

Rule #6: First impressions count

Whenever you talk with an agency owner to go over a possible purchase, remember Dale Carnegie's famous saying: "be hearty inside your approbation and lavish inside your praise". The aim shouldn't be to barter because this can certainly become an adversarial discussion. It's your chance to provide yourself like a real and qualified candidate, build rapport using the seller and get specific, intelligent questions so you've enough knowledge of the company to maneuver forward. Experienced buyers frequently relay their intentions regarding the way they will proceed and just what they'll need in the seller to accomplish the transaction. Realize that many obstacles which come up throughout the acquisition process could be overcome for those who have good rapport using the seller, so you should establish an friendly relationship from the first day. Don't think that an agency owner is just worried about how much cash they'll receive for that purchase. Most proprietors have put years into building their agency and developed close relationships using their staff and customers, so exiting the company could be a major emotional event. The dog owner does not need to see his/her legacy come crashing lower while heOrshe offered the company towards the wrong person, therefore the money, while important, isn't the whole equation.

Rule #7: Keep your process moving

Otherwise skillfully managed, the negotiations can drag out and finally stall. With regards to making a deal, achieve this on paper and canopy the key terms. You won't want to shuttle one half dozen occasions, arrived at a contract after which understand that you didn't remember an essential detail. That produces deal fatigue and goes away the goodwill. Make use of an experienced intermediary that handles insurance agency purchase transactions to help using the negotiations and drafting of the purchase offer. The "intermediary" can relieve tension and if they're a skilled M&A consultant they are able to help insure that key products are incorporated within the purchase contracts. Supply the seller having a research list to allow them to focus on assembling the thing you need as the contract has been negotiated.

Rule #8: Be flexible on deal structure

Among the greatest reasons buyers miss possibilities is they miss out on the forest with the trees - as they say. They find yourself in trouble on a single detail and won't budge. I'm not recommending that you simply surrender to all the demands of the seller, however that you evaluate how big the worth gap. Are you prepared to lose the chance? Can there be an alternate way to bridge the space?

Let us have a simple scenario. The vendor of the agency wants $500k. You believe the company may be worth $425k - a 15% gap. Are you able to add some impact on an earn-out but still income? Will the vendor extend the financial lending terms longer and bear much more of an email? Is he going toOrshe hold an email on stand-by (no payments) for any couple of years before you can enhance the income? Consider the money flow, risk and total price of capital, not only the acquisition cost. Attempt to understand his/her motives for selling too because this can frequently reveal an chance to locate mutual understanding. When the owner is inflexible and impractical this means that they're unmotivated, therefore it is most likely time for you to move ahead.

Rule #9: Do your research

I would like to state that the planet is definitely an honest place but good people can omit important details to prevent complications in research. Pricier sleep issues to simply provide you with the thing you need. Once under an LOI or purchase contract, request it and watch for it. Research can generally fall under three groups: 1) financial, 2) operational and three) legal. Around the financial side, make certain you realize the revenue and expenses both from your historic along with a pro forma basis. Often a trailing 12 month revenue history inside a P&C agency is a great indicator from the next twelve month's performance but there might be a loss of revenue of the account, producer, bonus or carrier which may be incorporated inside a trailing 12 month think back and can not carry forward. Take a look at monthly trends having a year-over-year comparison. When the agency deals with a / r, then employ a good CPA to complete the digging. Around the operational side, comprehend the culture from the agency from how a office operates to the caliber of the workers and customers. How efficient would be the processes and technology being utilized, where are possibilities for enhancements? Should there be producers, so how exactly does their compensation fall into line with all of those other market and have they got any vesting within their book of economic? Make certain that you've a good knowledge of all parts of the industry before continuing to move forward. It is almost always not that which you uncover which should worry you, what you do not uncover.

Rule #10: Possess a publish-close strategy

Professional buyers possess a transition arrange for following the closing. The size of an effective transition period in the owner relies upon his/her goals and just how integral he/she's towards the business. In some instances, the dog owner can leave following a week as well as in others he/she might need to hang in there for any couple of years. You should make sure to execute new contracts using the agency's staff and producers, even just before closing. In lots of states, non-compete contracts between employees and also the selling corporation aren't transferrable to some buyer. Other products include transferring trust money, getting hired with carriers and redirecting commissions into your money, and many other minute details. You'll have both hands full for that first couple of several weeks so make certain that you're prepared to hit the floor running. Looking for Insurance Consulting? Visit our website today!

Should you chose to create a play in an independent agency, then be prepared to commit some time and sources towards the process expect problems to arise suddenly and expect stress and feelings to boil towards the surface. You might want to hug lots of frogs before you get a prince, but, like anything, the more you practice in internet marketing, the greater you'll become.

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lonestarflight · 15 days

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Concept art of the Phase C Space Shuttle (E-0017) launching an upper stage into orbit.

SDASM Archives: 08_00968

#Space Shuttle #Space Shuttle Development #Concept Art #NASA #Space Transport System Program #Space Transport System #STS #Space Shuttle Phase C #Phase C #1970s #space #undated #my post

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writingsbychelle · 6 years

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Love Again | Part II

Summary: Running away from confrontation comes to bite you in the ass once Heimdall gets attacked by BeiTech.

Pairing: Nik Malikov x Reader

Request: Nope

Warning: Well...pregnancy and labour I guess?? Also obvious Obsidio spoiler

Word Count: 2,069

PART I

About two weeks after you came aboard the Mao, things started to take a bad turn.

Firstly, after Ezra got the assignment to train some people on how to fly the fighters the Mao had, Ezra decided he wanted Nik as his gunner. Obviously, the people who used to live on Heimdall knew of Nik’s past; and a guy named McCubbin and several others started beating him up. What Nik didn’t tell you was that he was the first one to throw a punch, after McCubbin said something about how you’re ‘a slut for being pregnant at that age’ and some other nasty stuff. Nik, being the gentleman he is, couldn’t let this go without doing something. So rationally, he punched McCubbin, ultimately breaking his nose.

The next day, you woke up to the news that AIDAN released all the excess carbon monoxide into Level 3 and 4, killing over 2,000 people in the process. To say you were furious would’ve been an understatement.

You, alongside Kady and some other people, hoped that AIDAN got over his murderous, rebel phase but apparently he had only just started. So Kady had to turn AIDAN off again but still, people were rioting, demanding for Captain Syra Boll to step back. Leader of this whole Rebellion was ex-Security Chief of Heimdall, Ben Garver.

Two days after the mass genocide, Ben Garver somehow managed to assemble thirty people to take over the Mao. At that time, you were seated in your bed in the infirmary, next to Ella, trying to assemble the ‘Illmuniae Files’, basically putting together messages, emails and more which could be used as evidence for BeiTechs attacks on Kerenza and Heimdall. You only heard about the uprising from Kady, when she sent Ella and you messages about how Garver started a mutiny on the bridge and locked everyone in there. However, the conflict was quickly resolved when Ella reactivated AIDAN after Nik, Hanna and Ezra managed to take over the Server Room.

Two Days later you arrived at Kerenza, the distress call had reached you and you all had a plan figured out. The plan didn’t involve BeiTech sending people from the Churchill to the Kenyatta though. Neither did it involve the fighter Ezra and Nik were flying in to be shot.

You were on the bridge with Kady, wanting to help as much as you could and give Ella the space she needed with all her monitors. Everything around you was chaos when Kady suddenly stopped everything she was doing, staring at one of the screens before her, not registering anything that happened around her.

“Kady!”

You heard Ella scream at her through the intercoms, as you walked up to her, wanting to see what caused her to lose her focus.

“…They’re gone…,” she mumbled, still staring at the screen.

“Who’s gone, Kady?” you asked, part of you fearing the answer, hoping this wasn’t real, that Kady didn’t mean who you thought she meant.

“Ezra and Nik…They’re-“

You didn’t know what she said afterwards, indistinctively you could hear Ella through the intercoms, as everything around you went blurry. The people rushing around, the constant beeping, the flashing of screens, the sparks bursting from computers, people yelling for instructions, everything faded away.

This couldn’t be happening.

No, this wasn’t real, he’s still alive.

You couldn’t believe it, you didn’t want to believe. Black dots clouded your vision, you saw a familiar face appear in front of you but at that time your knees were already giving out underneath you and you were slumping to the ground.

By the time you woke up again, Kady was standing above you, together with Hanna. Both girls looked more than worried, tears brimming their eyes but happy to see you awake. You didn’t remember what happened before you passed out but the fact that you saw Hanna made you come to the conclusion that all went well and the Mao was docked to BeiTech’s portable jumpstation Magellan.

“What happened? Where’s Nik?” you asked, your voice raspy.

Hanna and Kady looked at each other, afraid to remind you what happened to both Nik and Ezra.

“(Y/N)…they-they didn’t make it. BeiTech sent their own fighters and-and they…they’re gone.”

You could here Kady trying, very hard, not to break down at that very moment but it made it even harder for you. All these months you were prepared to never see Nik again, to raise your child alone and if you’d ever see Nik, that he would hate you.

But just a few weeks ago that changed.

You knew you didn’t have to go through this alone, Nik would be by your side, supporting you where and whenever he could.

And now? Now your life crumbled down in front of you.

The one person you truly, without a doubt, care about was gone.

Dead.

Thinking about all this made your breathing speed up, short and flat gasps leaving your body. Kady tried to take your hand when out of nowhere you felt a sharp pain shooting through your lower abdomen, causing you to squeeze your eyes shut and let out a gasp.

“Oh my god, (Y/N)-Hanna go get a nurse or a doctor. I think the baby is coming,” Kady instructed Hanna while you nodded at her statement when you felt your water breaking, confirming that, yes the baby was coming. In this very moment.

“I can’t do this, Kady,” you panted, “not without Nik.”

“Yes, you can, (Y/N). I’ll help you, we will all help you, okay?”

Within the next few minutes, a nurse and a doctor came rushing in, checking how much dilated you were and were preparing you to give birth and push out your baby.

While you felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing you with a hot knife, down on Kerenza IV Nik and Ezra had survived, thanks to the parachute Nik kept strapped to his back even after being ridiculed for wearing one in space all the time. Well, looks who’s laughing now.

“Alright, Babyface, we might have survived but I have a pregnant girlfriend, who’s probably gonna kill me, to get to. So let’s get off this freezing planet.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, don’t call me that,” Ezra sighed, annoyed by the stupid nickname his friend had given him.

Soon enough they found a shuttle to take them and some of the survivors on Kerenza to the Magellan, where you were refusing to cooperate, not wanting to start this new part of your life without Nik.

“(Y/N), you need to push! You’re risking your life and the life of your baby,” the doctor tried to talk to you but at this point you were blatantly sobbing, refusing to push even though the pain got worse with every second.

Kady stood by your side, holding your hand, while Hanna, Ella, Isaac Grant and Winifred McCall waited outside your room. On the Magellan, you had better equipment and more space, which gave you the benefit of having your own room and some privacy.

“I can’t. No, I don’t want to. Not without Nik,”you cried out, still not over the ‘death’ of your boyfriend.

With every passing second, the pain in your lower abdomen got worse but still, you didn’t bother to push.

Outside your room, Hanna suddenly got a message from one of the shuttles, telling her that both Ezra and Nik had made it out alive and were now arriving in Bay 2. While you were still in immense pain, doctor and nurse yelling at you to push, Hanna ran to Bay 2, where she pulled both Ezra and Nik into a bone-crushing hug.

“Quick, (Y/N) is in labour and she’s refusing to do it without you, Nik,” Hanna urged, already turning to run back to the infirmary.

Nik and Ezra were both shocked, staring at the blond girl in front of them.

“L-labor?” Nik asked, dumbfounded since he didn’t expect the baby to arrive just yet.

However, within only a few seconds, he quickly sprinted after Hanna, Ezra right behind him. They pushed through people, not bothering to excuse themselves. Even from afar they could hear your screams and sobs, which only prompted Nik to run faster, pushing past Hanna, just to see his cousin sitting in front of the room his girlfriend was supposed to give birth in. As much as he wanted to stop, Nik sprinted past his friends and family and slammed open the door, so that it hit the wall.

You were screaming in pain by now, feeling like you were being ripped apart, tears streaming down your face. And still, all you could think about was Niklas Malikov.

“Please, (Y/N/N). Just push. For you and fo-“ She was interrupted by a loud bang coming from the door.

You were convicted you were starting to hallucinate, the pain making you see things. Or people. People who were supposed to be dead, specifically.

“Nik…” you breathed, afraid that he wasn’t real and it was just your mind playing tricks on you.

But apparently, Kady saw him too because she let go of your hand and rushed out of the room, in hopes to see her tall boyfriend standing there. Nik quickly walked over to you, taking your hand in his, giving it a squeeze and kissing you on your forehead.

“I’m here, (Y/N), I’m here. But you need to be strong now and push, okay?” he told you, tears glistening in his eyes, while you were crying out of pure relief and happiness to know that he didn’t die.

“Alright, (Y/N). PUSH!”

After just about an hour, your little girl was officially born.

After she was cleaned up, clothes were put on her and she was wrapped in a blanket, the nurse handed the infant to you. Tears welled up in your eyes as you looked at the tiny human in your arms and as you looked up at Nik you saw him wiping his eyes.

He looked at you, leaning down to kiss your lips. This was the first time you could really register what just happened, Nik was alive after all and he was sitting beside you, dirty, bloody and sweaty but alive. You both looked down at the little bundle in your arms, just as she opened her (Y/E/C) eyes, blinking at the two of you.

Several minutes later, there was a knock on your door and Kady’s head appeared in the doorway.

“Hey,” she said quietly, “can we come in?”

“Yea, sure,” Nik answered for you, while you were softly and slowly stroking your daughter's cheek.

The door opened further and in came, Kady, Ella, Hanna, Ezra, Isaac and Winifred, all with big smiles on their faces when they saw Nik and you sitting together on the hospital bed, your daughter pressed to your chest. Nik immediately stood up from the bed and walked over to Ella, who had tears in her eyes, and hugged her as tight as he could, being happy to see his little cousin alive and well.

“Do you have a name for her?” Ezra was the first one to break the silence.

You smiled at Nik, having discussed the name before your friends entered the room.

“Yep, meet Syra Helena Malikov,” you smiled at the group in front of you.

Both, you and Nik choose this name to honour your former Captain, Syra Boll, and Kady’s mum and Isaac’s wife, Helena Grant, who sadly died on the Copernicus after BeiTechs initial attack on Kerenza.

You could see Kady and Isaac trying to hold back their tears when they realised you’d named your daughter after their mum and wife.

“Well, let’s see the little girl. I can just hope she looks nothing like Nik, wouldn’t want to be tortured with that ugliness,” Ella teased as she rolled over in her wheelchair to your bed.

You carefully handed her your baby, watching together with Nik who now sat beside you again as she smiled at the little girl in her arms, tears welling up in her eyes. In those few moments, the pain, the loss and the sacrifices from the last months were forgotten. Everyone was happy to see little Syra Helena Malikov well and happy, smiling happily at her parents and her godfamily. After all these months, everything stood still for a few moments while the Illuminae Group looked down at their newest member.

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#nik malikov x reader #nik malikov imagine #nik malikov fanfic #*writing #illuminae files #nik malikov

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