Hired Raygun - part 4

I piled regolith over the rest of the shallow grave to make a small mound. As there was no wind, precipitation, or wildlife here, I suspected it'd serve as a clear marker until the time the dead alien's comrades came inspect the damage and gather their dead. Just to be sure, I fired bursts into the backs of both sentry guns. They had probably gone offline anyway when the reactor exploded. I wasn't sure how long it'd take for enemy reinforcements to show up, but I'd already wasted too much precious time burying the corpse. What can I say except that it seemed like the decent thing to do. I had no idea how the firefight on the other side of the base was going, though since it was just droid on droid, I presumed they would duke it out until only one of them was left standing. I bounded through the boulder field where 142 had been doing overwatch for me.

When we rejoined, I could see a puzzled look in his eyes, as if it was wondering why a carried that corpse out of the base and buried it. I did my best to mimic the prayer gesture I once saw 142 make, and it seemed instantly understand my intent in that action. I hadn't heard anymore explosions for a while, so rather than call for evac, I suggested via hand signs that we do what we could to help out our droid allies. We approached the ruins of the base and 142 signaled he'd find some cover and do some sniping. My cloaking device still had some power left, so I figured now it was my time to act as a diversion. The smoldering ruins of the base added some ambient light, and that made it harder to hide. Often in conditions like these, it's hard to distinguish friend from foe. The last thing I wanted was to be responsible for a friendly fire incident.  

In this case it was a little easier. I knew the enemy was immediately in front of me, and when the fired, they revealed their positions. The light from the discharge of their weapons was dimmer as most of it was blocked by their bodies. The weapons our reinforcements off in the distance had somewhat brighter muzzle flashes. Whenever I saw a dim flash of light, I fired a burst in that direction and immediately bounded a few meters left or right. I tried to make the distance and direction random so I'd be a harder target. As the enemy fell one by one, more fire concentrated on those that remained. When the last one was eliminated, the fire quickly tapered off. 142 signaled me with his laser pointer, and we moved in to inspect the wreckage. Our droid reinforcements did likewise. It had been in a tough fight, and only half a dozen of them were left standing. All of them had been hit, but the damage was not critical. 

One of them was intently surveying the scene, I presume to make an after-action report. I helped gather enemy weapons from others. It seemed they wished to scavenge equipment from the enemy. Some of the wrecked droids, both friendly and enemy were deemed salvageable, so we gathered those as well. I was left wondering how many times the same droid had been shot up and repaired, or how many times the same metal had been melted down and recycled into a new droid. Given the pains they took to scavenge wreckage, the war must have been going on for a very long time. A friendly dropship touched down nearby not long after. After loading it with the captured loot, the droids motioned us aboard and we took off. It was a short ride before we got transferred to our regular ship. After removing our spacesuits and stowing our gear, we were directed to the theater.

The hologram projector showed us the after-action report for the mission. It was all pictures, but easy enough to understand. A star map displayed all the known locations of similar facilities throughout the galaxy. There looked to be about a dozen. The one we just blew up had a big red X stamped on it while an explosion sound effect played. It was good to know we were making a difference. The droid losses were about even, 20 or so for both sides, but the scrap salvaged made up for it slightly. 142 was the hero of the battle and had racked up most of the kills. It turned out to have a real talent with the x-ray vision sniper rifle. It felt good to have a skilled warrior as my partner. Perhaps once we had done enough damage, they'd let us go home. That seemed to be the implication of the report: fight hard and destroy enough, and you'll get to go home. It was a glimmer of hope that would sustain me for a long time. 

Our next stop would be on a barren desert planet. We were set to get demolitions and heavy weapons training. Though exciting and relatively safe, it could only mean the next mission would be that much more dangerous. It wouldn't be just the two of us at the range either. The photos of the other trainees were displayed. It was quite a rogue's gallery. We were all different species and I looked to be the only mammal among them. The roster was heavily with reptilians and insectoids, though one or two looked to be avian or fungoid. But before all that, it looked like we'd earned some vacation time, and would be spending a few days on a lush planet with a beach. At that, we returned to our cabin to bathe, eat, and sleep.   

Later, I took the alien name tag to the theater and held it in front of what I figured was a camera. I figured it was worth a shot to see if the computer would tell me anything about it. Sure enough, info about it popped up on various screens. I couldn't read any of the text, but from the pictures, I could see the location of the alien's home planet and the various star systems they controlled. It also displayed some images and videos pertaining to their culture and technology. I was able to gather they were allied with a consortium of other races who were also seeking to maintain and expand their influence. We never ended up getting much training in either the spoken or written language of our masters, and I suspect that was intentional. Aside from the difficulties of translation and language instruction, they only wanted us to know just enough to obey their orders.

At least I got some answers, though I still felt guilty about killing an unarmed creature I bumped into at random, even it was in the midst of a life-or-death struggle. I began to wonder why our masters relied on mercenaries and droids rather than fighting themselves. I suppose it was for similar reasons so many humans have supported and fomented wars while do everything they could to avoid combat themselves. I never had much respect for people who said in effect "hey, let's you and him fight", yet that faction is numerous and has a long history. Thinking back to what I knew of military history, soldiers frequently went to war for dubious reasons while under questionable leadership and being mostly ignorant of both the strategy, goals, and causes of the war. That was certainly the case in the First World War, which was the result of an assassination and a set of alliances. 

In a larger sense, it didn't matter who we were fighting and why, how long it would take, and so on. My goal was to survive. Helping my partner survive was the most logical course of action. We spent many more hours teasing bits of information out of each other. It would take far too long to recap our conversations since we spent most of the time trying to figure out what the other was saying. Gradually, through pantomime and other visual aids, we were able to share basic information on our cultures, planets, families, and ourselves. Of course, we had no way of knowing how much we truly understood of each other, but at least it was a start. Something is always better than nothing when it comes to knowledge and rapport. We even tried each other's rations a few times despite concerns about poisoning and being reprimanded. 142's food was better than I expected and didn't make me sick. Otherwise, I vastly preferred the rations made specifically for me, despite their odd appearance.

We spoke at length about what we'd do when we got back to our homes. It turned out our backgrounds were essentially the same in that we came from desperately poor families where one child was expected to take a gamble in order to benefit the rest. We agreed that this was an honorable and sensible thing to do. It seemed taking one for the team was a value our cultures had in common. Once I asked 142 what it would have done had it been assigned by our masters to a platoon of its own kind. It said they'd organize a rebellion, steal weapons, commandeer a ship, and head for home. I replied that I'd have done the same thing and added this was certainly part of the reason why our masters deliberately kept us isolated from our owe kind and also in pairs rather than larger groups. It wouldn't have surprised me in the slightest if there had been rebellion and escape attempts already. 

It was all starting to make sense in an odd way. Our masters avoided teaching us their written language so we couldn't pilot the ship if we mutinied and took control of it. They used mercenaries and droids for their wars because too few of them were willing to take the risk. That implied they lived relatively safe, prosperous lives compared to the mercenaries they recruited. Most wars on earth were over the control of land and resources, so I assumed it was the same on the interstellar level. I began to wonder if that was true. If our masters and presumably their opponents were already safe and prosperous, why fight? Was there some greater ideological or religious war going on? Was it just a matter of status and bragging rights? The Scramble for Africa in the 19th century was mostly the result of different European countries competing for prestige. Colonialism in general turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. 

Another possibility was that war was bedrock of their economy, and thus constant war was a necessity. In the Roman Empire, the Gates of Janus temple doors were kept open during times of war so people could pray for victory. Since there was almost always a war going on, the temple doors rarely closed. There was a stretch where they stayed open for 400 years. Any civilization that has an excess of labor and wealth is going to plow it into some grand project. The most popular choices have been monuments and war. While conquest has diminishing returns as weapons become more expensive, the political benefits of a successful war make it a sensible choice for ambitious politicians. It reminded me of the Falklands War where Argentina went to war with Britain over an utterly insignificant island. The ruling junta thought it would score a quick and easy victory that would distract Argentina's population from domestic crises and boost patriotism. Instead, it was an expensive and embarrassing rout, though costly for the British as well. Indeed, the cost of the war for both sides outweighed any possible economic benefit.

So perhaps that was our situation. We'd unwittingly signed up for the interstellar equivalent of a forever war every bit as absurd as a pie-eating contest. In that case, my mottoes were "bon appetit" and "laissez le bon temps roulez".    

Absurd Online Dating Profile - Unreasonable Standards

 

Perhaps she's joking. At least I hope she is.  

Hired Raygun - part 3

When there were only a few hours to spare, we suited up, took weapons, and waited for the final minutes in the airlock. At last, we touched down, and the hatch opened. It was a bit of a shock to be subjected to even minor lunar gravity after so many subjective months of weightlessness. 142 went down the ladder ahead of me. It was good its suit had an extra sleeve to accommodate its prehensile tail. How annoying it would be to be forced to coil it up inside a suit meant for a tailless quadruped. 

I descended the ladder and began moving toward the objective. As we were on the light side, it was easy enough to see. In the low gravity, it has easy enough to hop away so that we were away from the blast radius of the ship's engines as it took off. 

We both turned to watch it launch back into the black starlit sky. Its engines burned silently and released a massive gush of orange flame. The first part of the journey was easy enough, as the landscape was mostly flat with a few small hills and craters here and there. Off in the distance, a foreboding mountain range loomed. Not sure how we'd get over that. As we passed into the foothills, I began to scan for the easiest route of ascent. I had climbed a few mountains before back on earth, but this was something different entirely. Huge, jagged peaks stretched across the horizon as far as the eye could see. The indicator light in our helmets pointed the way, yet this gave us no clues about how to surmount the obstacles in our path.

We scrambled up a treacherous scree. There was going to be a lot of hands and feet climbing for a while. It became clear why we had been landed on this side. No enemy would expect an attack from this direction given the difficulty of the terrain. Who dares wins. I remembered reading that from a old military history book. It was the motto of an elite force from some ancient civilization. As I scaled the cliff, I pondered how the basics of war never change. It all boils down to young men willing to risk death. Close with the enemy and kill them. All the other circumstances are just minor details. We scaled the first cliff and surveyed the plateau we had just reached. There wasn't an obvious right way to go, so we just followed direct path as given by the indicator light in our helmets.

I began to wonder how the indicator light worked. Perhaps the target had been marked with some sort of beacon? It didn't really matter. There is a story I like from Buddhism called the parable of the arrow. In it, a warrior is struck by an arrow during a battle. A doctor comes to help him, and the stricken warrior begins asking questions like: what kind of arrow is it? where was it fired from? who might have fired it? And so on. Buddha said asking questions like that is just as useless as asking where the universe came from or what happens after death. That is, even if you knew the answers, you'd still be stuck with the exact same problems. The only knowledge that is really useful is the kind that helps you overcome whatever obstacles you are facing at the moment. 

We trudged onward and came to a wide chasm. It was a good thing we both took the multitool with the harpoon attachment. The harpoon was magnetic, but also had a traditional barb. Not sure what metal it was made out of, but it penetrated the moon rock easily. I aimed for a ledge across the chasm and fired. There was a satisfying cloud of regolith from where the harpoon hit. I walked slowly toward the edge of the cliff, took a deep breath, and swung off. In the lower gravity, the speed was much slower, yet it was still a surreal experience, like falling off a cliff underwater. The sensation was like the feeling just as a descending elevator stops, yet it lasted for several minutes. I put out my legs to cushion my fall against the rock face and activated the winch. Every so slowly, I was drawn up the cliff face. I tried not to look down, yet the urge was irresistible. A terrible inky blackness lay below. Being stuck down there would be about as isolated as anything could be.  

After my successful ascent, 142 made his maneuver and joined me on the ledge. We pressed on through the boulders along a narrow path. At its end, a large crater lay before us. Going around it would waste too much precious time, so we cautiously descended into it. There was something peaceful about its flat bottom. I looked up briefly to marvel at all the strange constellations. You've never really seen the stars until you've seen them from an isolated, airless moon deep in outer space. Whatever. No time for sentimentality. We had a mission, and it was either them or us. Another hard climb to get out of the crater. We pulled ourselves up and saw almost nothing but a faint light on the horizon. We were now on the dark side, and any light we used would only serve as a bullseye for the enemy. The ground was easier at this point. Just a few regolith dunes here and there and some small craters.   

The light grew brighter and more distinct. Various structures became apparent, including some domes, a comm tower, and a huge satellite dish. It made sense that such a remote outpost would be manned by droids as the environment was so hostile to life. We'd agreed beforehand to maintain radio silence as we didn't know what kind of scanners the enemy had. On the ship, we'd flipped a coin to see who'd go infiltrate the base. I lost, so 142 gave me the charge from its cloaking device. The double charge would even the odds a lot. My loadout was the ray pistol and submachine gun I'd practiced with at the weapons range. 142 had the x-ray rifle. There was a boulder field some distance away, and it went to take up an overwatch position there. At this point, we were about 500 meters from the base. That was too close for comfort, but the darkness gave us some security.   

OK, time to low crawl. I made my way to a crater a few meters deep. I had some enhanced optics in my helmet, and I used them to peer over the rim. There was a pair of what I guessed were sentry guns scanning the perimeter. Hopefully they didn't have thermal or radar sights otherwise my cloaking device was useless. When I saw a good piece of cover about 100 meters away, I engaged the cloaking device and sprinted for it. Or rather, I hopped as fast as I could with my legs outstretched. Once I was set, I turned off the cloak and used a laser pointer in my gauntlet to signal to 142. I knew he would not reply, but just the same, it gave me confidence. This time just flashed the laser once. Once I was ready for the assault, I'd flash it twice. I was hiding by a gap in the perimeter wall. The sentry guns were behind me and continued to mindlessly sweep the area in front of them. 

I picked up a pebble and threw it at the gap to see if it bounced off a force field. Nope. The way was clear. I engaged the cloaking device again and peeked around the corner. I saw a droid guard put its palm up to a sensor, and this act caused an airlock to open. Not sure why base with just droids would have airlocks. That implied there were lifeforms which required an atmosphere inside the base. Military intel isn't always wrong, but it is always incomplete. Even so, the basic objective remained. Somehow, I had to get inside, find the reactor, and either disable or destroy it. After thinking it over for a few minutes, I decided my best course of action was to signal 142 so the diversionary attack could begin. Then, in the chaos, I'd cloak, grab a guard's hand, and use it to enter the base.

I turned and flashed my laser twice in my partner's direction. Then I peeked around the corner again and waited for the guards to react. After about 30 seconds, I saw a pair of guards start to move when one motioned the other to stay put. Jackpot. I cloaked and bounded toward him. Fortunately for me, he was close to the access panel, and it hardly resisted as I yanked its hand to the sensor to open the airlock. I rushed inside and turned off the cloak just after the outer door closed. I was certain the guard ignored the event as a random glitch. After a moment, the inner door opened, and I made for a stairwell. I figured it would lead to an observation tower, and that would give me a vantage point for both observing the diversionary attack and getting an idea of where the reactor might be.

Sure enough, off in the distance, I could see the muzzle flashes and plasma bolts of a lunar firefight. From what I could tell, it was an even match, and neither side would either advance or retreat for a while. Our reinforcements had managed to disable the sentry guns on the other side of the base. The destroyed hulks glowed orange and sporadically spurted sparks and neon blue plasma. I presumed also that a majority of the garrison had left to counter the diversionary attack, so I was more or less free to explore the base. I figured the reactor would be near the antenna as it would require enormous power to broadcast across interstellar distances. I returned to the ground floor and headed for it. Along the way, I bumped into a creature that was exiting an adjacent corridor. I fell down and immediately fired a burst at it. Whatever it was, it was now dead and charred beyond recognition. I felt a twinge of guilt. On its purple coverall uniform were various medals I presume to show rank and organization as well what could have only been a name tag. I swiped the name tag and took a picture of the corpse with my tablet device. 

I had a hunch he was the reactor operator, as whoever owned this base would prefer a sentient lifeform over a droid to run the most expensive equipment. It was becoming increasingly clear that in a universe where everyone was expendable, droids were the most expendable of all. I came to a large room with a control panel and a device that looked like the reactor aboard the ship. If it wasn't this, it was their fault for not giving me more intel so I could blow up the right thing. I backed up from the control panel and fired a burst across its length. It sparked and flamed as warning lights flashed and alarms blared. I fired a shorter burst into reactor vessel before turning and bounding as fast as I could back the way I came. After a few seconds, an explosion shook the building. As I passed the creature I'd slain earlier, I felt compelled to take it with me. 

I came out the airlock and made my way back to the gap in the perimeter wall. There, I let down the corpse, and pawed a shallow grave into the regolith as the ground shook with more explosions. It's hard to explain exactly why I dug the grave. I felt sorry for it, because whatever it was, it was an intelligent being that most likely did not deserve to die. Its body would surely have been disintegrated by the explosions now rocking the base, but at least this way, its comrades would hopefully find its remains so they could have a proper funeral. So many questions were swirling in my mind. First and foremost was: who are we fighting and why? 

Hired Raygun - part 2

I put my eye up to its scope and put the crosshairs on the target. The image was very strange, almost like something from infrared or night vision. The picture in the scope went out. I thought I had accidentally turned it off somehow. I took my eye away and looked in the direction of the target. There was now a large metal barrier in front of it. How strange. I put my eye back to the scope and to my surprise, found the target again. So that's the special trick of this gun: the scope can see through solid objects. That should come in handy. I squeezed the trigger and heard the electric howl. I felt a heat flash from the energy blast which briefly warmed my face and chest. With the naked eye, I examined the metal barrier. Orange molten metal was leaking down a hole the size of a golf ball. 

I handed the weapon 142 so it could practice and turned my attention to the weapons rack. There was something about the size of submachine gun in the shape of a seashell. I took it and went to an open lane. There was a selector switch, or so it looked, on the right side of it near the trigger. I took aim and fired, but nothing happened, so I clicked the switch down a notch and tried again. Success! A satisfying pew! for each trigger pull. So that mode was semiautomatic fire. I clicked the switch down another notch. I took aim and held the trigger down as it sprayed neon blue electric death. It had a tremendous rate of fire and no recoil. However, I saw that it could not penetrate solid metal the way the x-ray rifle could. When it ran out of ammo, a pillar came out of floor and released some more of the mercury-like substance. The gun automatically sucked it in with a ringing sound. Given its capacity and rate of fire, I decided that this would be my primary weapon. 

Also on the rack were pistols similar to the submachine gun and a device about the length of a forearm with various attachments. I strapped it to my right forearm and played with the controls. There was a plasma cutter with a range of a few meters, a magnetic harpoon, and a large retractable blade. It was the blade that most intrigued me. Whatever enemy I ended up against, it was more than likely they breathed some kind of gas and wore spacesuits. Thus, if I wanted to conserve ammo, I could sneak up on them and use the blade to cut their breathing hoses. And of course, blades are much quieter than guns, and I expected to being fighting in atmospheric environments with sound at some point.      

Where were the shoulder-fired weapons and grenades? I didn't see any displayed, but presumed they had them. Near the weapons rack, there was a touchscreen. I scrolled through it and saw pictures of both the weapons on the rack plus some I'd never seen before. I suspected we weren't going to trusted with more powerful and expensive weapons until we'd proven our worth. A bit disappointing, but understandable. A siren blared briefly, and the usual instruction lights beckoned us back to our cabin. It must have been lunchtime. The dispenser gave me a big, crunchy green stick of something and a foil beverage pouch. Despite the alien appearance, the taste was excellent and left me with an odd sense of satisfaction and inner peace. It seemed likely both of us were going to get pumped full of whatever drugs our masters thought would help keep us obedient and alive. 

I must admit the sounds 142 made while it ate were disturbing, so I did my best to politely excuse myself. I went into the room adjoining the cabin and closed the hatch behind me. It appeared to be a bathroom of sorts, but there were many appliances I didn't recognize. I found a kind of scented towel dispenser. I stripped and used a few to bathe. I felt so much cleaner afterward. There was a receptacle with only one conceivable purpose based on its shape and location, so I used it to answer the call of nature. As this did not result in any alarms or lights, I figured I had done the right thing. I went through another hatch and found a mini gym with an exercise bike and elastic bands attached to the floor and walls. It all made sense. With no gravity, we'd both need a lot of strength training to maintain our muscles and bones. There were places to strap my feet to the ground near the elastic bands, and so I was able to do exercises like squats and deadlifts. With enough creativity and practice, I was sure I'd find other exercises. 

It occurred to me that I ought to spend more time building rapport with 142. After all, we would depend on each other in battle, and we had barely introduced ourselves. I returned to the cabin to see it kneeling in what I presumed was prayer. I was never very religious myself, though I had studied the holy books of various faiths simply out of curiosity. When it had finished its ritual, I pointed at my wrist screen to signal I wanted to talk. We had much work to do to build up a common language. First, I figured we should agree upon some basic tactical commands like "go left/right", "come here", "stay put", "advance", "retreat", and so on. It was a painstaking process, but in the end, we were better off for it. 

I wondered where we were at the moment. I hadn't even explored the ship fully. 142 motioned me to follow and led me into a room with various screens. On the largest screen, I saw a symbol for what I presumed was our ship. There was a dotted line extending back to earth, but I had to zoom out to see the whole path. I zoomed out some more and saw a few of the other planets the ship had landed on. Now I wanted to know where we were headed, so scrolled in the direction of travel. It appeared we were a long way off from whatever planet or moon we were headed to next. That was a relief. More time to prepare.   

The strategy of our masters was a mystery, which I presume was intentional. I remember once reading an article about the unusually strong cohesion of German units in both world wars. Unlike other countries, the Germans tried to keep men from the same regions and towns together. It was common for a platoon to all be from the same village. Even though the Germans were outnumbered in both wars, they fought in good order until the day of surrender. It was very rare for a unit to collapse into a rout. Perhaps there was a similar logic at work with me and my companion. By sending out a closely bonded pair who depended on each other for their lives, the odds of success in battle were higher. Long odds make for bold hearts. When Cortes arrived in South America, he ordered his men to burn the ships, so they would have no way to retreat if they lost the battle. Their only choices were conquer or die.  

Some time later, we were directed to another part of the ship. It was crammed with various equipment, and the most prominent were the suits of power armor. The process of donning them was done automatically. All we had to do was lie down on a table and hold still as various robotic arms attached each piece. I was surprised at how quickly it finished. I sat up on the table and moved to stand on the floor. My main concern was the amount of dexterity I'd have with the metal gauntlets on my hands. After a few experiments picking up and manipulating some small objects in the room, I was satisfied I'd be able to move freely in combat. An image was displayed in my helmet. One symbol indicated the direction of 142 and the other was some kind of countdown timer, which I presume indicated how long I could stay in the suit until the air or power ran out. Fortunately, from what I knew of the alien number system, a full-charged suit could stay operational for hundreds of hours at a time. 

After our introduction to power armor, we were directed to a small theater, which I guessed was a briefing room of sorts. The hologram projector showed us a our destination which we were still a few weeks from. It was in a binary star system with just one gas giant planet. Orbiting the planet was a single moon that was similar to earth's. The moon was the location of some kind of enemy facility. We were shown pictures of a large tower and satellite dish. My guess is the base was a communication relay station. While it was not heavily guarded, it had numerous automatic defenses that we would either need to bypass or destroy in order to disable the comm link. The projector indicated a device inside which might have been a reactor or power plant. If we could sneak in and disable that, we'd accomplish our mission with minimal risk. 

Then we were shown pictures of the enemy at last. They appeared to be robots of various sizes and shapes. The larger ones were heavily armed and all of them had weapons of some sort. It was at this moment I wondered just how badly outnumbered we were in general, and this is why our masters only sent out pairs. Perhaps at some point, 142 and I would fight as part of a larger unit. In any case, it was critical that we develop a good understanding of each other as our survival depended on it. We retired to the cabin, and were both eager to strike up a conversation. There was a computer in the cabin that could be used for drawing pictures, and so we took turns making various movement diagrams over a map of the objective. The enemy base was on the dark side of moon, so we'd certainly get dropped off on the light side to maintain the element of surprise. Whatever landing method we used was sure to attract attention if it was seen in the dark. 

Given the distance we had travelled, our speed had been inconsistent. There had been several intervals where we had moved relatively slowly, and those were interspersed with jumps whereby we had crossed vast distances. I found what I suspected was the engine room, but aside from identifying what I guessed was a nuclear reactor, I had no idea how the ship travelled. When I was in school, I remember being taught about the theoretical possibility of wormholes which would allow faster than light travel. No proof had ever been found of them though, at least by human scientists. It was an odd sensation to be constantly filled with fear and wonder.  

I found a new mode on my communicator which allowed me to send and receive messages from my partner. We spent a few hours practicing with that as well as shooting while suited up. Our confidence was pretty decent now, and it seemed somehow our masters perceived it. When I checked the star map again, it indicated that we would be reaching our destination in a few hours of our subjective time. For me, this was proof that we had indeed been traveling faster than light somehow, otherwise the time dilation effects would have made it impossible to synchronize any sort of plan.  

We returned to the hologram theater for our final briefing. It instructed us that the ship would land close to the boundary between the light and dark side, and that we'd need to advance on foot over a few dozen kilometers of rough terrain that included craters and mountains. It would be a challenge to cross such rough ground in the dark, and yet we'd need to be very careful about using any kind of artificial light source. The good news is that we wouldn't be alone during the assault. Once we were close enough, another ship would land and another force of half a dozen battle droids would launch a diversionary attack. To great relief, we were also going to be given cloaking devices to help us infiltrate the base more easily. The downside was the cloaking device could only be used for a few minutes total. 

 

Hired Raygun - part 1

It was the job young men took when they couldn't get anything else. There was always a need for fresh meat for the grinder. The handful of ones who came back alive brought great riches, mostly in the form of alien technology. The rest came back in bits and pieces, if they came back at all. None of the veterans said much about what happened out there, mainly because most of their memories had been wiped. That was a gesture of kindness, and perhaps foresight, on the part of the recruiters. 

Like many others, being an interstellar mercenary wasn't my first choice. After a few years of meandering after high school, I decided it was time, so I went to the recruitment office at the local starport. There were hundreds of them scattered throughout the world. They were staffed by robots, and the enlistment process was extremely efficient. In the vast majority of cases, new recruits were shipped off to a battle on another planet within hours of signing their contracts. Unlike most militaries, instead sending off troops in large batches, they preferred to recruit individuals continuously.

Who were they? Good question. Because of translation difficulties, it was hard to tell exactly who they were. The best explanation was that they were an alliance of various intelligent species seeking to maintain their empire, which stretched across countless worlds. Many of them were humanoids of various races while others had radically different anatomy and biochemistry, including reptilian, amphibian, avian, fungoid, etc. There were also various factions of androids which had formed independent civilizations. For short, humans just called them all "oids". 

My family and friends organized a special farewell dinner for me. It was a somber occasion given what everyone knew about the odds of my safe return. As I was somewhat at a loss for words, I merely promised them that I'd do my best to come back alive. After that, I retired to my room to pack my things and drown my sorrows. It seemed likely that alcohol would be hard to come by for a long time after I was off world.  

I took very little with me, as I figured they'd confiscate certain things and provide me with whatever I actually needed anyway. Aside from the clothes on my back, I took a folding knife, a lighter, a pocket-sized tablet with a camera and some e-books and video games loaded on it. It could be charged with body heat as well as light, so it was a good option for travel to outer space. I wanted to keep a record of my experiences. If there was no way to avoid having my memory wiped, perhaps at least they would not delete any of the files on my tablet. It was a long shot, but it was my only hope. 

My parents drove me to the starport, and I said my farewells to them there. Not sure how I held back my tears when my parents couldn't. I've always been the stoic type. The automatic gate opened, and I followed the flashing arrows on the ground. At the first station, flashing lights in the shape of footprints directed me where to stand while another set indicated that I should place my hands on the wall. There was some humming and whirring as some tentacle-shaped devices snaked out the floor and scanned me. Also, I barely felt pricks in the palms of my hands. I presume they needed a blood sample for both ID and to determine my nutritional needs. I suspected they also injected me with a tracking device. Anyway, when I took my hands off the wall, I saw that my palms had been tattooed with bizarre symbols.

I had also felt a strange warm sensation on the bottom of my feet. Later, when I went to check, I saw the soles of my feet had also been tattooed. Throughout the whole induction process, not a word was spoken to me. It was odd at first, but I gradually got used to it. Everything was self-explanatory. The oids had gotten very good with non-verbal communication from interacting with a huge variety of races and cultures. Later, I would come to learn the universal sign language that had become the lingua franca of the galaxy.

I followed more flashing arrows to a room where a plain gray jumpsuit had been laid out. A set of flashing arrows directed to a bin, where I presume, I had to put my clothes and belongings. I did so and donned the jumpsuit. It seemed to adjust automatically to my frame, as though the fabric was smart. At this station, a tablet-like device was strapped to my left forearm. When I looked at the screen, I saw a grid of emoji-type symbols. It reminded me of the pointy-talky pamphlets soldiers used to communicate overseas during the 21st century. A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when travel is measured in lightyears. 

More flashing lights beckoning me to follow. They guided me to a chair with a bunch of harnesses. Time to blast off, I guess. I was strapped in automatically. In the distance, I heard a distant rumble build to a crescendo. I lost consciousness from the acceleration. When I came to, I was released from the chair and got my first taste of weightlessness. More arrows to follow. I passed through a sliding automatic door. There were various handles on the walls of the corridor, and I was able to use them to propel myself. At last, I reached a small cabin. There was a porthole in the wall. Through it, I was able to see the earth. It appeared to be the size of a tennis ball and was shrinking fast into the empty blackness.

A chirping sound from a device on the wall got my attention. I pushed a flashing button. A small compartment in the wall opened revealing my meager possessions sealed in a kind of plastic. I presume they had been inspected and sterilized. More chirps. I pushed another button near what looked like a drawer. After a few moments, the drawer opened. There was what appeared to be a tray of food inside. Though I was hungry, I had never eaten in zero gravity before. The tray was secured to the bottom of the drawer with something like Velcro. It made a quiet ripping sound as I tore the tray loose. 

I inspected the contents. There were a few objects that looked like toothpaste tubes. I opened one and squeezed out some orange gel. It tasted OK, so I ate the whole thing. The color reminded me of salmon and the taste was like a combo of peanut butter and shrimp. Very savory, but did I really want to know what it was made of? Whatever. As long as it kept me alive. It was well past time for me to adjust to living without the comforts of home. There was a foil pouch with what looked like a straw taped on. It reminded me a little of a popular juice brand I drank as a kid. It wasn't pure water, but it was nearly tasteless. A few minutes after I drank it, I started feeling a little woozy. It must have been spiked with tranquilizers or some other drug.

Oddly enough, though I began to feel sleepy, somehow my focus improved. I suddenly noticed a poster on the wall. It took me a few minutes to realize it was a primer on mathematical symbols. It was a base 10 counting system which made it easier to learn. There were four other symbols for the basic arithmetic operations. I quickly realized that the symbols corresponding to plus and minus could also mean "yes" and "no". There were also symbols that obviously corresponded to an equal sign and a question mark. That would make communication a lot easier, though so far I hadn't met anyone to have a conversation with. There were two bunks in the room with the sleeping bag attached for the mattress. I crawled in as it became impossible to keep my eyes open. Whatever was in that liquid had a similar effect as quality marijuana. It was a strong high, but without the paranoia. I had trippy dreams. 

My childhood and early life came flooding back to me. There memories of birthday parties, bad grades, sick days, family vacations, and Christmas presents. It all blurred together. It occurred to me that I hadn't experienced very many hardships or challenges in my life, except for a few long hikes and camping trips. There were also memories of shooting an antique AR-15. It was a family heirloom that belonged to my great-grandfather. He told me stories about how he used to protect himself during the hungry years. Those were tough times of plague, famine, and war. Many governments collapsed. Perhaps the weakened state of human civilization is what enticed the oids to visit earth during that time. We were ripe for the picking. 

Aside from a few unpleasant dreams, I awoke feeling relaxed and refreshed. When I looked toward the food dispenser, I saw that I now had a companion. The creature was taller than me, about six feet tall with a muscular build, dark green scaly skin that I could see, and a prehensile tail. It turned to look at me, and I saw that its mouth was more like a spider's with a large pair of mandibles and several pairs of what I assumed were its eyes. I now understood why I had been drugged. Had I been in my right mind, fear and shock would have been my natural response to the sight of the creature. It tapped the screen on its left arm, as if to signal it wished for me to use mine. I held mine up for it to see.

It spent the next minute or two scrolling through various emojis, I presume because it was looking for the best one for its initial message. It tapped its screen a few times, and then waved me over to look at it. I saw a star, a planet with rings, a crescent moon, and the question mark symbol. I guessed it was asking me to describe the planet and star system I came from. It took me several minutes to find all the appropriate symbols. Eventually, I typed out the following:

star + planet x 8

Then

planet x 3 + moon

I pointed to myself after that and gestured for it to respond. It wrote:

star + planet x 1

Then

planet + moon x 4

Then 

moon x 2

It pointed to itself. So its kind lived on one of the four moons in a star system with one planet. Interesting. So far, this had been easier than I expected. It made a sound like a gurgle and a roar while pointing at itself. I guessed it was telling me its name, so I did likewise. It was clear neither of us could possibly pronounce the other's language, so our names became our star system descriptions. I was "8 planets 3rd planet 1 moon" and it was "1 planet 4 moons 2nd moon". It turned out that all of our cohorts decided upon the same system, and since there were never more than a few dozen of us in the same place at the same time, the names were unique enough. Later, we shortened our names to just 3 numbers. I was 831 and it was 142. It was appropriate, as we were both prisoners for the duration, so to say.  

So we had established names for ourselves and built some rapport. Not bad for two aliens meeting for the first time in outer space. There was a chime and more flashing arrows beckoning us to leave our cabin. We followed them to a midsize room with what appeared to be weapons on the wall. It seemed the ship was equipped with an indoor shooting range. My eyes were drawn to a rifle that looked like a swordfish. It was neon blue and hummed when I picked it up. I floated over to some foot straps on the floor so I could keep a steady position. When I was situated, a pillar just to my right rose out of the floor and dispensed a glob of silver liquid. The swordfish gun sucked it in somehow and made a kind of whistling sound while it glowed menacingly. 

 

My recent experiences training an AI math program

A few days ago, I got a job as a remote AI trainer. Since I still work with the same company, I won't disclose its identity. They gave me a screening test and said my mathematical ability was superior. Thus, I was assigned to train an AI math solver. I wasn't sure what to expect, so I started out with some high school and college level algebra problems. My instructions were to give the AI problems it would make mistakes on. I was surprised at how quickly and easily the AI solved many word problems I'd rate as medium or difficult. I did eventually get it to make an error in its reasoning by presenting it with the Collatz Conjecture, though the AI recognized the conjecture in its final reply.

I also managed to get to make an error with a question involving the coin rotation paradox. A similar question was on the 1982 SAT, and everyone, including the test makers, got it wrong because the correct answer was not among the choices. Later, I notice the model struggles with questions involving complex numbers. That's not surprising since such numbers are a somewhat obscure topic with limited applications. It also struggled with binomial expansions and large exponents.

Overall, I was very impressed with its reasoning ability. It can solve math problems that are posed without explicit equations. So in addition to understanding math, it also has good English comprehension. 

There is an ongoing debate about the limits of AI. At this point, I'm convinced it will continue to advance, which is an exciting possibility, though many people will be forced to find new jobs. Even so, there will always be jobs for humans, either because machines can't do them, or people are better at them. 

My advice is to relax and enjoy the show. In the end, there are no rules, and the points don't matter. 

The Cyber US Military PSYOP Against China in the Philippines During the Pandemic

A news dump last Friday revealed this:

Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic (msn.com)

Stories likely to cause controversy or damage to a political faction are often publicized on Friday afternoons, whereby they will get less attention. 

The juicy bits from the article:

***

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. military launched a secret campaign to counter what it perceived as China’s growing influence in the Philippines, a nation hit especially hard by the deadly virus.

The clandestine operation has not been previously reported. It aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China, a Reuters investigation found. Through phony internet accounts meant to impersonate Filipinos, the military’s propaganda efforts morphed into an anti-vax campaign. Social media posts decried the quality of face masks, test kits and the first vaccine that would become available in the Philippines – China’s Sinovac inoculation.

...

The U.S. military is prohibited from targeting Americans with propaganda, and Reuters found no evidence the Pentagon’s influence operation did so.

Clandestine psychological operations are among the government’s most highly sensitive programs. Knowledge of their existence is limited to a small group of people within U.S. intelligence and military agencies. Such programs are treated with special caution because their exposure could damage foreign alliances or escalate conflict with rivals.

***

I am aware that other countries do similar things. That is wrong as well, at least in general. There was relentless bellyaching and pearl-clutching for 4 years in the US about supposed Russian meddling in 2016 election. There was even an attempt by former CIA officials to discredit the Hunter Biden laptop story as Russian disinformation. It turned out that the laptop story was true. 

It's especially galling that not long after the US military covertly tried to discourage foreigners from getting vaccinated, the US government mandated vaccinations for its own citizens. That vaccine turned out to be far less effective than promised. 

The US should not be waging PSYOP campaigns against countries we are at peace with. Wartime is a different story. 

Aside from being unethical, such actions are wasteful, ineffective, and damaging to the US in the long-term. 

Frederick Douglass said: he is a lover of his country who rebukes and does not excuse its sins.  

I should also note that while the US government and military are forbidden from conducting PSYOPs on US citizens, there is nothing stopping them from hiring a private company to do the same. Indeed, such contractors are often used to prevent disclosures by FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). 

There is no doubt in my mind that many questionable and illegal activities are being undertaken by such groups now with US citizens as the targets. Corporations like Dynology and ClearForce come to mind. 

Here is a recent screenshot from ClearForce's website:

If they are confident in the ability of AI and Machine Learning to prevent suicide, that heavily implies they use the same tools for other (malevolent) kinds of psychological manipulation. 

The only real solution is to reduce the US government to the minimal role outlined in the Constitution. There is little chance of that happening given the current political climate. In the meantime, a good defense is to always ask yourself "who wants me to believe this and why?" when reading the news or government announcements.  

It's also good to remember that there is a record of nearly everything anyone does on the internet somewhere. The following video of the Parkland shooter's trial is a good example of that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13ZmLvzwD7U

My guess it was the shooter's ISP who had the data, which included his emails and search history. ISPs are perfectly happy to sell such info to anyone who will pay for it, as well as turn it over to the government. When I was being briefed for work at NSA, I was shown a screenshot of a company that for $3 would provide a complete record of anyone's web browsing, social media, etc. There was some exaggeration there, but the essence is true. 

If you want privacy above all, the only real way to get it is to minimize your use of the internet and any electronics that can connect to it. Basically, pay for everything in cash, use a landline phone, and do not use email or social media. Limited internet usage on public library computers is safe though. 

It's too late for me to get my privacy back, but that's OK. I haven't missed it much. For those who do care, I offer my expert advice above.  

Mote Aquarium in Sarasota, FL

It's probably the best aquarium in the world for its size. I highly recommend it.

Great whites don't handle captivity well. There are only a handful of preserved specimens on display worldwide.

Speaking of great whites, the snack bar serves the beer from Jaws. Beer and aquariums...2 great things that are even better together.

This pint cost me $7.50, but that's OK. It keeps the place in business.

The shark tank had few species of sharks plus barracudas. None had lasers attached to their frickin' heads.

There's a barracuda on the right. Fun fact: the barracuda was named by a French polymath.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_Samuel_Rafinesque

***

Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (French pronunciation: [kɔ̃stɑ̃tin samɥɛl ʁafinɛsk(ə)ʃmalts]; 22 October 1783 – 18 September 1840) was a French early 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimately settling in Ohio in 1815, where he made notable contributions to botany, zoology, and the study of prehistoric earthworks in North America. He also contributed to the study of ancient Mesoamerican linguistics, in addition to work he had already completed in Europe.

Rafinesque was an eccentric and erratic genius.[1] He was an autodidact, who excelled in various fields of knowledge, as a zoologist, botanist, writer and polyglot. He wrote prolifically on such diverse topics as anthropology, biology, geology, and linguistics, but was honored in none of these fields during his lifetime. Indeed, he was an outcast in the American scientific community and his submissions were automatically rejected by leading journals. Among his theories were that ancestors of Native Americans had migrated by the Bering Sea from Asia to North America,[2][3] and that the Americas were populated by black indigenous peoples at the time of European contact.[4]

...

In the summer of 1818, in Henderson, Kentucky, Rafinesque made the acquaintance of fellow naturalist John James Audubon, and stayed in Audubon's home for some three weeks. Audubon, although enjoying Rafinesque's company, took advantage of him by practical jokes involving fantastic, made-up species.[17]

***

He also tried and failed to join the Lewis and Clark expedition.

I sent this pic from my phone to my email, and somehow it got a little distorted. How odd. 

This is probably the best explanation of how the legend of merfolk began. Note that the 2 tentacles up top are in their retracted position. 

Former NSA Employee Analyzes the Shadow Gate Documentary from Millie Weaver and InfoWars

The full documentary is available here and worth watching: https://archive.org/details/shadow-gate

Overall, I did not find any factual errors in the film, and I agree with its conclusions. 

Below are some screenshots from the aforementioned film and my comments on them.

In the days of yore, psychological operations (PSYOPS) consisted mainly of dropping leaflets on and broadcasting audio messages at the target audience. Nowadays, hearts and minds are won on the internet.

A close-up view of an internet psyops tool developed and used by the US military. It is possible for one operator to create and control numerous personas (sock puppets) who appear as real to other users.  

An enlarged view of the same tool- It reminds me of some of the software I used at NSA for military intelligence.

It's meant to protect US citizens and residents, yet there are numerous loopholes. Effectively, it is a token gesture meant to pacify civil libertarians and privacy advocates.

Similar software, like GoGuardian for public school teachers and administrators, exists for the same purpose.

 

In the film, iPSY is introduced as an online espionage and psychological warfare service. Its name is a nod to the Apple i-series products.

The thing speaks for itself.

See above.

So yeah, when Manafort failed McCain, the latter sought revenge.

In reality, he merely shifted one of his lapdogs to a new role.

Behold. He failed upward.

Not surprised. Also, what an idiotic name.

***

 Hurricane Electric is a global Internet service provider offering Internet transit, tools, and network applications,[1] as well as data center colocation and hosting services at two locations in Fremont, California,[2] where the company is based.

***

It's incredible that some US intel databases are located overseas.

Hard to believe that so few noticed that both the DNC and RNC were supposedly hacked at almost the same time by Russia.

Brittany is on the right.

Yes, that Cambridge Analytica. The one that got in trouble for helping Trump's 2016 campaign.

People interested in more evidence of Maddow's stupidity ought to watch the following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0krkHRBaVI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw2BVI9OhC4

An offer PSY Group made to both the Trump and Clinton campaigns to tilt the election with illegally gathered intel

And they got caught red-handed even according to the lamestream media.

So shines a good deed in a weary world. A related video is below. Aroun the 2:25 mark, a CIA contractor admits to engaging in entrapment. That is, provoking people into illegal actions. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieMO5JKCgcI

I admit to donating money to reason in 2012. I'm not making that mistake again. I do enjoy their Remy and Great Moments in Unintended Consequences videos.

Amusing. The average middle school basketball game has a larger audience.

Yeah, he mysteriously was murdered around the same time as Seth Rich. Shawn Lucas served the DNC with a lawsuit alleging fraud in the 2016 DNC primary.

Seth Rich was murdered on July 10, 2016. Shawn Lucas met the same fate on August 2, 2016. Connect the dots, people.

So yeah, he hired his son to lead the espionage and psychological warfare corporation (Dynology) mentioned way up at the top of this post.

Not the most attractive? That's the understatement of the century.

It's not science fiction anymore.

This diagram reminded me of what KGB defector Yuri Bezmenov said about psychological warfare. According to him, the 4 stages are demoralization (takes 15 to 20 years), destabilization (1 to 2 years), crisis (less than a year), and normalization (indefinite). The so-called useful idiots who are provoked into being the foot soldiers of the revolution are the first to be eliminated by the new government. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2OtFprM3No

Knowledge is power, and the truth will set you free. Don't get mad or scared. Get ready and stay frosty.