Anyone with a svartpilen, what are your thoughts on it for a commuter? I’ve been planning to buy one for a while to cut down on gas costs and commute time. But, I recently started a new job and my commute has now more than doubled.. it’s a nice drive(pacific coast highway), and having a bike would be awesome for that commute. But I’m wondering how the 401 feels in terms of power. I haven’t been able to test ride one yet to see if it’s viable for sustained higher speeds.
I’ve ridden larger bikes in the past(‘82 kz750 and a ‘95 sportster 883 w/ 1200 bore kit). I’ve also ridden an old ‘82 nighthawk 450. Being an older 450, it was a good ride but definitely wasn’t the most powerful. I have no clue how a modern engine of a similar size will feel.
I’d be comfortable on the 701, or another bike entirely. But I really like the look of the 401 specifically and I was looking for a smaller, lighter bike to sorta cruise around on, rather than a heavy workhorse type of bike. I guess even if it’s a little slow, splitting lanes would make up for lack of top speed lol. Idk what do you guys think?
For reference: I’m about 6’ 200lbs-ish

Introduction

This is part 2 of the research/discussion series on the wonderful article Why Are We in Ukraine? by Schwarz & Layne. This is a continuation of the previous post, which you can find HERE. Given the relative success in finding and sourcing most of that first portion, I'd like to continue with the series to the next section of the article. If you are interested in participating, please comment below with any relevant points of evidence that addresses portions of the article. I'll be regularly updating this post with points to help future visitors to better navigate the article and the discussion below.
I look forward to seeing you all in the comments!

Part 2: How To Poke A Bear

One early sign of this fundamental change was Washington’s covert, overt, and (perhaps most important) overtly covert interference in Russia’s affairs during the early and mid-Nineties—a project of political, social, and economic engineering that included funneling some $1.8 billion to political movements, organizations, and individuals deemed ideologically compatible with U.S. interests and culminated in American meddling in Russia’s 1996 presidential election. Of course, great powers have always manipulated both their proxies and smaller neighboring states. But by so baldly intervening in Russia’s internal affairs, Washington signaled to Moscow that the sole superpower felt no obligation to follow the norms of great power politics and, perhaps more galling, no longer regarded Russia as a power with sensibilities that had to be considered.
Moscow’s alarm over the hegemonic role America had assigned itself was intensified by what could fairly be characterized as the bellicose utopianism demonstrated by Washington’s series of regime-change wars. In 1989, just as the U.S.-Soviet global rivalry was ending, the United States assumed its self-appointed role as “the sole remaining superpower” by launching its invasion of Panama. Moscow issued a statement criticizing the invasion as a violation of “the sovereignty and honor of other nations,” but neither Moscow nor any other great power took any explicit action to protest the United States’ exercising its sway in its own strategic backyard. Nonetheless, because no foreign power was using Panama as a foothold against the United States—and thus Manuel Noriega’s regime posed no conceivable threat to America’s security—the invasion neatly established the post–Cold War ground rules: American force would be used, and international law contravened, not only in pursuit of tangible national interests, but also in order to depose governments that Washington deemed unsavory. America’s regime-change war in Iraq—declared “illegal” by U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan—and its wider ambitions to engender a democratic makeover in the Middle East demonstrated the range and lethality of its globalizing impulse. More immediately disquieting to Moscow, against the backdrop of NATO’s steady eastward push, were the implications of the U.S.-led alliance’s regime-change wars in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 and, twelve years later, in Libya.
Although Washington presented the U.S.-led NATO bombing of Yugoslavia as an intervention to forestall human rights abuses in Kosovo, the reality was far murkier. American policymakers presented Belgrade with an ultimatum that imposed conditions no sovereign state could accept: relinquish sovereignty over the province of Kosovo and allow free reign to NATO forces throughout Yugoslavia. (As a senior State Department official reportedly said in an off-the-record briefing, “[We] deliberately set the bar higher than the Serbs could accept.”) Washington then intervened in a conflict between the brutal Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)—a force that had previously been denounced by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization—and the military forces of the equally brutal regime of Slobodan Milošević. The KLA’s vicious campaign—including the kidnapping and execution of Yugoslav officials, police, and their families—provoked Yugoslavia’s equally vicious response, including both murderous reprisals and indiscriminate military actions against civilian populations suspected of aiding the insurgents. Through a stenographic process in which “ethnic-Albanian militants, humanitarian organizations, NATO and the news media fed off each other to give genocide rumors credibility,” to quote a retrospective investigation by the Wall Street Journal in 2001, this typical insurgency was transformed into Washington’s righteous casus belli. (A similar process would soon unfold in the run-up to the Gulf War.)
It was not lost on Russia that Washington was bombing Belgrade in the name of universal humanitarian principles while giving friends and allies such as Croatia and Turkey a free pass for savage counterinsurgencies that included the usual war crimes, human rights abuses, and forced removals of civilian populations. President Yeltsin and Russian officials strenuously, if impotently, protested the Washington-led war on a country with which Russia traditionally had close political and cultural ties. Indeed, NATO and Russian troops nearly clashed at the airport in Kosovo’s provincial capital. (The confrontation was only averted when a British general defied the order of his superior, NATO supreme commander U.S. general Wesley Clark, to deploy troops to block the arrival of Russian paratroopers, telling him: “I’m not going to start World War III for you.”) Ignoring Moscow, NATO waged its war against Yugoslavia without U.N. sanction and destroyed civilian targets, killing some five hundred non-combatants (actions that Washington considers violations of international norms when conducted by other powers). The operation not only toppled a sovereign government, but also forcibly altered a sovereign state’s borders (again, actions that Washington considers violations of international norms when conducted by other powers).
NATO similarly conducted its war in Libya in the face of valid Russian alarm. That war went beyond its defensive mandate—as Moscow protested—when NATO transformed its mission from the ostensible protection of civilians to the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi’s regime. The escalation, justified by a now-familiar process involving false and misleading stories pedaled by armed rebels and other interested parties, produced years of violent disorder in Libya and made it a haven for jihadis. Both wars were fought against states that, however distasteful, posed no threat to any NATO member. Their upshot was the recognition in both Moscow and Washington of NATO’s new power, ambit, and purpose. The alliance had been transformed from a supposedly mutual defense pact designed to repel an attack on its members into the preeminent military instrument of American power in the post–Cold War world.
Russia’s growing concern over Washington’s hegemonic ambitions has been reinforced by the profound shift, since the Nineties, of the nuclear balance in Washington’s favor. The nuclear standoff between the United States and Russia is the dominant fact of their relationship—a fact not nearly conspicuous enough in the current conversations about the war in Ukraine. Long after Putin, and irrespective of whether Russia is converted to a market democracy, the preponderance of each country’s nuclear missiles will be aimed at the other; every day, the nuclear-armed submarines of one will be patrolling just off the coast of the other. If they’re lucky, both countries will be managing this situation forever.
Throughout the Cold War, Russia and the United States both knew that a nuclear war was unwinnable—an attack by one would surely produce a cataclysmic riposte by the other. Both sides carefully monitored this “delicate balance of terror,” as the American nuclear strategist Albert Wohlstetter put it in 1959, devoting enormous intellectual resources and sums of money to recalibrating in response to even the slightest perceived alterations. Rather than attempting to maintain that stable nuclear balance, however, Washington has been pursuing nuclear dominance for the past thirty years.
Beginning in the early Aughts, a number of defense analysts—most prominently Keir A. Lieber, a professor at Georgetown, and Daryl G. Press, a professor at Dartmouth and a former consultant to both the Pentagon and the RAND Corporation—expressed concern about a convergence of strategic developments that have been under way since the dawn of America’s “unipolar moment.” The first was the precipitous qualitative erosion of Russian nuclear capabilities. Throughout the Nineties and Aughts, that decline primarily affected Russia’s monitoring of American ICBM fields, its missile-warning networks, and its nuclear submarine forces—all crucial elements to maintaining a viable deterrent. Meanwhile, as Russia’s nuclear capabilities decayed, America’s grew increasingly lethal. Reflecting the seemingly exponential progress of its so-called military-technological revolution, America’s arsenal became immensely more precise and powerful, even as it declined in size.
These improvements didn’t fit with the aim of deterring an adversary’s nuclear attack—which requires only the nuclear capacity for a “countervalue” strike on enemy cities. They were, however, necessary for a disarming “counterforce” strike, capable of preempting a Russian retaliatory nuclear response. “What the planned force appears best suited to provide,” as a 2003 RAND report on the U.S. nuclear arsenal concluded, “is a preemptive counterforce capability against Russia and China. Otherwise, the numbers and the operating procedures simply do not add up.”
This new nuclear posture would obviously unsettle military planners in Moscow, who had undertaken similar studies. They no doubt perceived Washington’s 2002 withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty—about which Moscow repeatedly expressed its objections—in light of these changes in the nuclear balance, grasping that Washington’s withdrawal and its concomitant pursuit of various missile defense schemes would enhance America’s offensive nuclear capabilities. Although no missile defense system could shield the United States from a full-scale nuclear attack, a system could plausibly defend against the very few missiles an adversary might have left after an effective U.S. counterforce strike.
To Russian strategists, Washington’s pursuit of nuclear primacy was presumably still further evidence of America’s effort to force Russia to accede to the U.S.-led global order. Moreover, the means that Washington employed to realize that ambition would justifiably strike Moscow as deeply reckless. The initiatives the United States has pursued—advances in anti-submarine and anti-satellite warfare, in missile accuracy and potency, and in wide-area remote sensing—have rendered Russia’s nuclear forces all the more vulnerable. In such circumstances, Moscow would be sorely tempted to buy deterrence at the cost of dispersing its nuclear forces, decentralizing its command-and-control systems, and implementing “launch on warning” policies. All such countermeasures could cause crises to escalate uncontrollably and trigger the unauthorized or accidental use of nuclear weapons. Paradoxically, mutually assured destruction provided decades of peace and stability. To remove the mutuality by cultivating overwhelming counterforce (i.e., first-strike) capabilities is—in another paradox—to court volatility and an increased likelihood of a grossly destructive nuclear exchange.
Since the nadir of Russian power in the decade and a half following the Soviet collapse, Russia has bolstered both its nuclear deterrent and, to a degree, its counterforce capabilities. Despite this, America’s counterforce lead has actually grown. And yet, U.S. leaders often act affronted when Russia makes moves to update its own nuclear capabilities. “From the vantage point of Moscow . . . U.S. nuclear forces look truly fearsome and they are,” Lieber and Press observe. The United States, they continue, is “playing strategic hardball in the nuclear domain, and then acting like the Russians are paranoid for fearing U.S. actions.”

Hi, my name is Chay Comas, and I'm a community organizer on the Central Coast, building a community of gamers and hobbyists. This is a passion project shared by me and hundreds of others who want to build and share our communities and hobbies far and wide.
All along the Central Coast eclectic hobbies and gaming communities are quickly becoming a popular movement. From Board Games to Cosplay, communities are sprouting like wildflowers. The Central Coast Games Newsletter is free and brings all of the nerdy events on the Central Coast to one place. Stay up to date with what's happening on the Central Coast and join the movement to connect our gaming and geek communities.
Excerpt:

June 23-25 Mark your calendars and clear your schedules, because PolyCon XL is set to take place from June 23rd to June 25th, 2023, in the heart of San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly. With an exhilarating lineup of events and activities, this year's PolyCon promises to be the most thrilling installment to date. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of imagination, competition, and countless hours of gaming heaven
You'll have the opportunity to explore a diverse array of games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Mario Kart Tournaments, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer 40k, Nerf War, LARP, Cosplay, and more...

Get news of upcoming events like this, and more through the summer for the Central Coast from Monterey to Ventura Co, covering:

• Dungeons & Dragons and RPGs
• Warhammer and TMGs
• Fighting Game Tournaments
• Cosplay Competitions and Expos
• Game Conventions
• Trading Card Tournaments and Regional Qualifiers
• LARPing
• Historical Wargaming
• Crafting Demos & DIY support
• New and old local gaming clubs
• Game Demos
• Escalation Leagues
• Local Events

We are very excited at the reception that our newly found organization has received, and we're proud to be of service to the communities and games we're passionate about. If you'd like to join us and thousands of other active hobbyists and gamers, consider participating in our active discord server (the nerd herd). I'll see you there!
Chay Comas Community Organizer Central Coast Games [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Hi, my name is Chay Comas, and I'm a community organizer on the Central Coast, building a community of gamers and hobbyists. This is a passion project shared by me and hundreds of others who want to build and share our communities and hobbies far and wide.
All along the Central Coast eclectic hobbies and gaming communities are quickly becoming a popular movement. From Board Games to Cosplay, communities are sprouting like wildflowers. The Central Coast Games Newsletter is free and brings all of the nerdy events on the Central Coast to one place. Stay up to date with what's happening on the Central Coast and join the movement to connect our gaming and geek communities.
Excerpt:

June 23-25 Mark your calendars and clear your schedules, because PolyCon XL is set to take place from June 23rd to June 25th, 2023, in the heart of San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly. With an exhilarating lineup of events and activities, this year's PolyCon promises to be the most thrilling installment to date. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of imagination, competition, and countless hours of gaming heaven
You'll have the opportunity to explore a diverse array of games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Mario Kart Tournaments, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer 40k, Nerf War, LARP, Cosplay, and more...

Get news of upcoming events like this, and more through the summer for the Central Coast from Monterey to Ventura Co, covering:

• Dungeons & Dragons and RPGs
• Warhammer and TMGs
• Fighting Game Tournaments
• Cosplay Competitions and Expos
• Game Conventions
• Trading Card Tournaments and Regional Qualifiers
• LARPing
• Historical Wargaming
• Crafting Demos & DIY support
• New and old local gaming clubs
• Game Demos
• Escalation Leagues
• Local Events

We are very excited at the reception that our newly found organization has received, and we're proud to be of service to the communities and games we're passionate about. If you'd like to join us and thousands of other active hobbyists and gamers, consider participating in our active discord server (the nerd herd). I'll see you there!
Chay Comas Community Organizer Central Coast Games [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

I’m 22 (F) and I was really good friends with a girl where I study. We will call her Amy. We were really close and would always hang out during college times. Amy had a boyfriend which had been revealed that he was sending suggestive pics to his ex. I would always defend her when she didn’t want me or our mutual friends pressuring her to break up with him so she can try and manage in her own time. She was also happy enough to let us have our opinions on the situation. I did a lot for her and would always comfort her when she needed it.
Fast forward a bit and her boyfriend starts college but she thinks he’s acting a bit weird due to his location. Now Amy has mentioned that her boyfriend would get angry when she didn’t get a specific train time home and has made her cry when she one time asked him to do something for her when she did all the stuff around the house. When we thought he was acting strange. I voiced to her that I was worried that he might be up to something again such as cheating. She didn’t say anything to me at that time. I seen her off on her train and went home myself.
I then get a message from her an hour later saying that I’ve drilled him cheating on her in her head when I only mentioned it once or twice. I felt guilty and blamed myself and tried to apologise to her convinced I just ruined her relationship with her partner. Same night I decided to dye my hair posted it on my story as I was loving my new look. After trying to apologise a couple of days later, she said I never should of said anything at all despite her telling us she was happy enough to hear our opinions
Next day I get a message from Amy asking why I dyed my hair her colour and accused me of copying her. We argued and I told her that I don’t dye my hair for anyone but me. I tried as much as I could to make it up to her after feeling overwhelmed. Fast forward a few weeks I go back to where I’m studying and I try to ignore her, she then thinks I’m talking about her behind her back when I go to talk to my friend when for that full day I didn’t even talk to her or even look at her . It’s gotten to the point where I don’t feel welcome at college anymore due to her becoming a bit of a bully by trying to shout at me or antagonise me. I was also asked to apologise to her by my teachers as she wanted an apology. I tried and she straight up got nasty again. It’s been over a month and I haven’t attended college due to mental health and this situation. What also doesn’t help is I’ve also overheard her say she’s happier without him but it makes me wonder why she is still hating on me for this situation. My other friend has also turned on me not hearing my side of the story despite her saying she doesn’t want to get involved but will still sit next to Amy. I need to ask guys as it’s stressed me out for over a month. AITAH?..

Memory transcription subject: Daniel Price, UTC Special Forces
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2140
I don’t know how long the fighting lasted. The sound of gunfire and flamethrower tanks detonating sank into white noise as we held out our position. Colton dealt with most of the initial wave before they even reached the building, but then came the second and the third waves. Halfway into the second onslaught Colton ran out of ammo for his rifle. Switching to his sidearm he assisted us with the defense of the sole entrance to the office. The desk proved sturdy enough to provide cover against enemy fire. Here Tassev’s machine gun did most of the heavy lifting, but we had to take over more than once when the gun's barrel overheated and needed to be switched out. If we had faced a similar amount of resistance trying to get in here we never would have taken this room in the first place.
During this time the Kolshian regained his senses, though he was content to stew silently while the fighting was still ongoing. I noticed him trying to wiggle from his binds more than once, but he got nowhere. We might have gone a little overboard restraining him, overcompensating for his unorthodox biology, but it was better to go overkill than to be surprised at the worst possible time.
I didn’t know what we would do if we ran out of ammo. Grab guns from those we already killed? Take the Governor hostage and attempt to make a break for it? No, we couldn’t carry Amja out with us if we attempted that. As I counted down my few remaining mags I came to the grim realization we couldn’t make it through another assault. With two Arxur on our side we had the advantage in a melee, but as the old saying goes, nobody wins in a knife fight. Steadying my aim through the doorway we waited for the fourth wave. In this lull I had a moment to process the horrid scene in front of me. Bodies were piled along the walkway all the way to the end of the hallway. At some points piled up where they had been used as makeshift cover. Most of our assailants had been Krakotl, whose purple blood dripped sickeningly down from the walkways onto the ballroom floor below. Of the few Yotul that had attacked, most were exterminators, though their charred bodies were hardly recognizable as such. At one point Tassev had managed to nail an exterminator’s tank and engulfed the entire hallway in a fireball. The building itself, despite the seemingly wood detailing, appeared to be fireproof thankfully. If it wasn’t we would be taking a tumble out the second story window by now to avoid being burned alive. Fur and feathers were noticeably more flammable than the manor itself however, and filled the air with a putrid stench. After a long enough pause in the fighting, Usli droned out the area and saw no remaining hostiles. If there were any survivors among the enemy, they retreated. With a sigh of relief I took count of our remaining ammo, and it didn’t look good. I ordered Tassev to collect guns from the fallen. Their ammo would be incompatible with our weapons, so if we ran out we would have to switch to them entirely. Only the manor's guards would have anything of value, lugging around the few intact flamethrowers was the last thing we wanted to do.
As Tassev vaulted the desk I turned to the rest of my squad, “The area’s secure, for now. I want this place turned upside down. Document anything and everything of interest. Colton, there’s got to be a radio or something somewhere in here, if we can get an update on how the battle’s going that would be nice. Usli, search around for any electronics and download anything they’ve got.” I got started searching through the desk which had provided us cover. Most of the documents within that weren't shredded by bullets were of no interest: economic spreadsheets, architectural plans for additions to the manner (all dated after 2139), some personal letters which I opted to document, etc.
There was some commotion as Usli seized the Governor’s holopad. “Quit moving!,” Usli shouted as he kicked the Kolshian, causing him to double over. In most instances I would have told him to cool it, but after what we had just been through I could think of worse ways to release some stress than beating on the SOB.
“Anything Colton,” I asked.
“Nothing. Well, there looks to be an old TV back here but I doubt we’ll get any channels. You know we could try contacting the shuttle again, it’s not like our position hasn’t already been compromised. If they’re still kicking they’ll be in contact with the fleet.”
Pulling out my radio I realized it had a bullet lodged in it. After a second of vertigo I dropped the ruined electronic and turned to Colton again, “Can I borrow yours? Mine is uh, shot. Literally.”
“Seriously? Damn, sure no problem.”
Tuning his radio to the right frequencies I started, “This is Taskforce Revenant calling out, does anyone copy?” Static was the only answer. “This is Captain Price of Taskforce Revenant, does anyone copy?”
“This is UTCS Luanda, over. We hear you loud and clear Taskforce Revenant.”
Wait, Luanda? That’s a battlecruiser, and for it to be contacting us directly… they’d have to be in atmosphere. “What’s the situation up there, we’ve been in the dark planetside.”
“You haven’t heard? Feds are running with their tails between their legs, Captain. We took some minor dings but nothing that won’t buff out. Terran forces have complete orbital control.”
I couldn’t keep the relief out of my voice as I answered back, “That’s great to hear. I need you to relay a message to Command. We are requesting immediate evac from the Yotul capital. Our current position is in a structure called the Chancellor’s Manor. We are in possession of a potential HVT, the military governor of Yotul Prime, and intel on Federation operations on the planet. We’ve been pinned down for, I don’t know, an hour maybe? The site is secure now, but we are low on ammunition and have a civilian in need of medical attention.”
“Relaying now. In the meantime stay put and we’ll have reinforcements sent via drop pod within 15 minutes.”
The whole atmosphere in the room lightened up. It was over. We won in space and soon enough the last holdouts on the planet would either surrender or be destroyed. I turned to Amja, who was still conscious, but obviously in pain, “You hear that? We won! The Yotul are free.” She cracked a weak smile.
“You haven’t won,” The Kolshian piped up. “You’ve freed no one, just enslaved them in ways they can’t see.”
“Well would you look at that,” Colton said. “He speaks! And here I was thinking the squid was a mute.”
“Mock me all you want, predator. It doesn’t change the fact that you are a blight on the galaxy. Nor does it change the outcome of this war.”
“I dunno, that’s a lot of tough talk for someone bound up and surrounded by ‘vicious’ predators.”
“Vile creature. We would have done well to exterminate you all before your corruption spread.”
“Alright I’ll bite,” Colton continued, “no pun intended. What do you have against predators? Don’t lie and say it’s because you’re afraid of me. Sure that applies to most Feds we’ve met, but you’re different. It’s in the way you talk. Your feeling towards us isn’t fear, it’s disgust.”
“How astute for a primate. Like I said, predators are a blight on the galaxy, a malignant tumor that consumes all that it touches. My kind creates order. Your kind only knows destruction. Nay, you are destruction, chaos manifest. It’s in your DNA, crucial to your very being that you must destroy to live. You humans hide behind your facade of ‘civilization’ better than the Arxur, but you can’t hide what you truly are underneath it all.” His frog-like eyes narrowed as his pupils darted between Usli and Amja. “Likewise, of all the predators in this room the stench radiates most readily from the two Yotul among you.”
“What are you on about?”
“Arguably worse than you are those who hide among us, harboring the instincts of a predator unbeknownst to others. They are diseased, no doubt, to stand your kind’s presence let alone work with you.” He looked directly at Usli, “One can call you violent, insolent, primitive, and it rolls off like water. But when I call you what you are, diseased, watch how you recoil. Because deep down you know your ruse has been found out!”
Usli did recoil slightly, but at the insult of being called primitive, not whatever nonsense the Kolshian was spewing. “Enough of that,” I interrupted. “If I have to listen to one more second of that squid’s tirade I am going to jump out a window. There’s nothing to gain from egging him on.” I looked to the Kolshian, “And you. You will only speak when spoken to or I’ll tape your mouth shut personally.”
Colton huffed and turned to dig through a filing cabinet. Jokingly he asked no one in particular, “You think they’ll give us front row seats if he gets the Kalsim treatment?”
Tassev returned with his arms full of weapons. I informed him of the situation and he opted to stand guard in front of the door rather than sort through files with the rest of us. It was probably for the best, I don’t think anyone else besides maybe Jath could withstand the stench that permeated the hall. Finding I had sorted through everything in the desk, I moved over to help Colton search the filing cabinets. After a minute or so of doing that Usli finally broke into the Kolshian’s holopad.
“Well well well, looks like someone left a lot of sensitive files on their personal device, tsk tsk tsk. You’d think you 'advanced' species have better OPSEC,” Usli said mockingly. “Daniel, you want to check this out? I’ll see if I can get that computer up and running again.
“Sure, let’s see,” I said, taking the holopad and flipping through random files. I thought out loud as I opened some, “We’ve got manifests offworld, all going to the same system interestingly enough. Renovation plans including a pleasure garden complete with a 800,000 gallon swimming pool. Always a good look when the people you govern are surviving off scraps. Exterminator incident reports, risk assessment meetings, wait…” I opened the folder of exterminator incident reports. The files were separated by what I assumed was the Federation equivalent of months and years. The dates were auto translated, but it made the subdivisions look somewhat arbitrary as a result. It went back to 2137 and there were thousands upon thousands of reports. “Usli, just how common were predators when you lived here?”
“Not at all. When there was a predator sighting it would make headlines for a week.”
I looked back to the holopad. Clicking on individual incidents revealed more in depth details. The exterminators on the call, what precinct they were with, the location of the incident, resolution, and more. Under resolution every single one was marked DEPURATION. I scrolled down, and it just kept going. Eventually I found a couple instances of other resolutions: TERMINATION, INCONCLUSIVE, and RELOCATION. I opened up other pages, other times, and it was all the same. The number of incidents were excessive. Trying to scroll to the bottom of one subsection I gave up after a solid minute flying past thousands of reports with no end in sight.
“Under Exterminator incident reports there’s thousands of incidents. Almost every single one has its resolution marked as depuration.”
“What?,” Usli said, looking up from the computer. “Let me see.”
“It just keeps going, there must be tens, hundreds of thousands of individual reports.”
“That can’t be right. The Federation wiped out almost every predator on the planet during the uplift.”
I looked back to Amja, she was stone-faced staring at the Kolshian. “Those aren’t wild predators, those are people. The people you took.”
The Kolshian remained silent.
I allowed Usli to take the holopad and focused my attention on the cephalopoid. “What’s the meaning of this?”
The Kolshian took on an uncanny expression, I couldn’t tell if it was his species’ equivalent of a smile or glare. “If you must know, this world was infested when we took custodianship over the Yotul. It is little wonder that they planned to join you. Our scientists during first contact must have had faulty equipment. Either that or our screenings have become far more effective in the last few decades, because cases of predator disease were 256% more prevalent in the Yotul population than the galaxy at large. Perhaps a vestigial remnant of predator ancestors, but I digress. Cases of the disease were even more prevalent among the ruling class as well, being 37% more common in that demographic even when using a Yotul baseline. We simply did what was necessary.”
“And what was ‘necessary’?”
“Hmm, less perceptive than your pack member? Recalling our previous conversation, what do you do to a cancer?”
I knew damn well what he was alluding to, but I needed a straight answer right from his mouth, “I don’t know. Elaborate.”
He groaned, as if bored by the interrogation, “I knew your medicine was primitive, but I had no idea-”
“Answer. The. Question.”
“Hmph. A cancer cannot be allowed to take hold and spread. You are presented with two options, curtail its means of replication or cut it out.”
A stunned silence purveyed the room. I turned and snatched the holopad from Usli’s hands, he made no reaction to this action. I could feel anger slipping into my voice as I said, “All of these ‘incidents’. All of these people. What did you do to them?! And don’t answer me with any analogies or euphemisms! Tell me the truth!”
“We removed them from the general population and salvaged the ones we could. The ones that couldn’t be saved… well originally it would have been a matter of continuing their segregation from the populous and implementing strict population controls, but with the food shortages your kind have caused these past few years I had to make a decision. Why should healthy citizens go hungry because of individuals who are a net deficit to society.”
I stood in silence taking in his answer. The implication was obvious, but the bastard refused to outright say it. Hatred boiled to the surface as I replied, “You starved them.”
“Sending food to this backwater was already a low priority when core worlds needed to be fed. So why not dispose of the refuse of this world and save some for those that remained? Sure a more expedited method could have been chosen, but if the goal is to conserve resources then why spend more to achieve the same result faster?”
“You genocidal motherfucker. How many?” I flipped through the lists faster and faster before throwing the holopad to the floor. “How many millions of innocents did you murder for your perfect world?”
Though the Kolshian’s expression was hard to judge, it took on a look akin to annoyance as he sat silently in front of me.
“Answer me you piece of shit!” I yelled, “You killed all of these people, and for what? Because they had this ‘predator disease’? Murdered them just because they were different, just because they didn’t fit your vision? How many did you starve under the pretense of this pseudoscientific bullshit?!”
The Kolshian’s calm demeanor cracked as he grew incensed at my direct attack on his ideology. He barked, “Not enough!”
“Y-you monster…”, Usli stuttered, backing up out of my peripheral vision in shock.
The Kolshian’s eyes narrowed on Usli again. “Says the one in league with predators! The gall of you to call me the monster.” He looked back to me, “And none of your poisoned, ignorant, words would make me hesitate for an instant to continue my work! You call me a murderer as if your kind is any better. I know what you are even if you refuse to acknowledge it. At least I served to promote the greater good. What ends did the genocides in your own history serve? Exactly, your silence speaks volumes. What is the price of millions when my work serves to save billions? I will not grovel to you beasts or beg for your faux mercy. My only regret is that now all of those deaths will be for nothing. We wasted so much time and so many resources trying to uplift these primitives. And what did we get in return? Nothing! On second thought, I lied. I also regret that I didn’t kill more of these disease ridden, backstabbing, primi-”
A single gunshot rang out, splattering blue blood across my face as the Kolshian slumped over, trailing blood on the wall behind him. I turned around to see Usli standing there, arm shaking, with a pistol in hand. Hearing the gunshot, Tassev vaulted into the room, gun at the ready, before stopping dead in his tracks upon observing the scene in front of him. Silence overtook us as we stood there in shock. Slowly I stepped back and dropped my rifle to the floor. Holding out my arms I approached Usli. The conflicted expression on his face contradicted the action he had just committed. Stepping forward I calmly spoke, “Take it easy, Usli. Put down the gun.” His grip became shakier, but he was still pointing it straight ahead. He breathed out and blinked rapidly. His composure was barely maintained as his breathing accelerated. “It’s okay bud, just put it down. I’m right here, look at me.”
His pupils darted to me and back forward multiple times before he drew his arm back and threw the pistol at the dead Kolshian. Wasting no time he lunged forward, unleashing a barrage of stomps and kicks on the body. He let out a shrill cry before screaming, “HOW’S THAT FOR PRIMITIVE YOU FEDERATION FUCK!”
Tassev immediately moved in to restrain our friend, but even with the massive Arxur grabbing both of his arms his fury was barely contained, his only focus being the dead Kolshian in front of him. “FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU! I’LL KILL YOU ALL! EVERY LAST GODDAMN ONE OF YOU! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL! LET GO OF ME!”
Jath moved in and helped Tassev restrain his arms. I never thought in all my years I would see two imposing Arxur struggle to keep hold of a single Yotul, but Usli fought like a man possessed. I snapped out of shock and rushed in front of him, grabbing a leg as he kicked blindly. Finally we were able to take him off balance and pin him to the floor. He was still screaming profanities at the top of his lungs as I tried to get through to him. “Pull yourself together man! It’s us! Chill, chill!” He thrashed like a wild animal caught in a trap, looking in every direction as he expended his finite supply of energy trying to escape our grasp.
“LET ME AT HIM! LET ME GO! I’LL KILL EVERY ONE OF THOSE TENTACLED FREAKS, I SWEAR IT!”
Jath was next to try and calm him, “Relax, look at me. Look at me! It’s me. It’s okay, we’re here. Stop fighting. STOP!”
“I’LL, I- I…” His thrashes waned in intensity and we were finally able to let go. With the last of his energy he curled into a ball on the floor and began sobbing. I stumbled to my feet and tried to catch my breath. Usli’s mumbled words in between sobs were unintelligible, with the only one I could parse being “father”. Wiping the blood from my face, I hunched over the Kolshian. He was dead, no doubt. The bullet went right between his eyes.
I paced in front of the body, how the fuck were we going to explain this to Command? Usli just executed a prisoner, a top ranking official that they would very much have liked to have alive. The bastard had it coming a thousand times over, but fuck not like this! What would they do? Strip him of his rank? Court-martial and imprison him? I walked over to Colton, who was standing off to the side close to Amja. I turned him away from the rest and whispered, “This is bad, this is seriously fucked.”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know. Last thing Command heard was that we had an HVT ready for extraction and now he’s dead on the floor. You can’t just hide that!”
“But if we tell the truth?”
“They’ll court-martial him. At best they’ll find the circumstances such that he’ll be honorably discharged.”
“And worst case?”
“You already know.”
Colton put a fist to his mouth, trying to think, and muttered a curse under his breath. We stood there for a moment contemplating our options when Amja spoke up, “I did it.”
In unison we turned and responded, “What?”
“I shot the Governor. I killed him.”
Usli, who by now had buried his face in Jath’s shoulder, stepped back on shaky legs and looked at her. His voice came out as a hoarse whisper, “N-no. You shouldn’t take the blame. I did it. It’s my fault. My responsibility.”
“No it ain’t. You did nothing wrong, he deserved every bit of it. Besides, I had the motive.” With some difficulty she unholstered her firearm with her still functioning offhand, “And the means. It was out of your control, you were interrogating him and I shot him, as I intended to from the beginning. I deceived you so I could get revenge, like Ugo warned me not to do.” She looked at me and gestured with her gun, “Take it.”
I hesitated.
“Take it, you wouldn’t let me keep it after what I did.”
I grabbed the gun and inspected it for a moment. I sighed and, crouching down to her level, fired several times, hitting the Kolshian’s body in various locations while purposefully missing a shot or two. Standing up I explained to her, “I imagine you’re not a great shot with your offhand.” That would hold up in the AAR. It would have to. With the last piece of evidence planted it was time to complete the ruse.
“UTCS Luanda, this is Taskforce Revenant do you copy?”
“Copy What’s the situation?”
I took in a deep breath, and let it out before continuing, “High value target is KIA.”
“What happened?”
My gaze wandered to Usli, who was back in Jath’s embrace. “The civilian in our company killed him. I was interrogating the subject when she opened fire. She’s been stripped of any weapons and is cooperative.”
“Roger, ETA on reinforcements is 5 minutes.”
Putting the radio down I fell backwards into a chair and let out a deep breath, slumping forward to cradle my head in my hands. All there was to do now was wait for evac.

Hi, my name is Chay Comas, and I'm a community organizer on the Central Coast, building a community of gamers and hobbyists. This is a passion project shared by me and hundreds of others who want to build and share our communities and hobbies far and wide.
All along the Central Coast eclectic hobbies and gaming communities are quickly becoming a popular movement. From Board Games to Cosplay, communities are sprouting like wildflowers. The Central Coast Games Newsletter is free and brings all of the nerdy events on the Central Coast to one place. Stay up to date with what's happening on the Central Coast and join the movement to connect our gaming and geek communities.
Excerpt:

June 23-25 Mark your calendars and clear your schedules, because PolyCon XL is set to take place from June 23rd to June 25th, 2023, in the heart of San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly. With an exhilarating lineup of events and activities, this year's PolyCon promises to be the most thrilling installment to date. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of imagination, competition, and countless hours of gaming heaven
You'll have the opportunity to explore a diverse array of games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Mario Kart Tournaments, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer 40k, Nerf War, LARP, Cosplay, and more...

Get news of upcoming events like this, and more through the summer for the Central Coast from Monterey to Ventura Co, covering:

• Dungeons & Dragons and RPGs
• Warhammer and TMGs
• Fighting Game Tournaments
• Cosplay Competitions and Expos
• Game Conventions
• Trading Card Tournaments and Regional Qualifiers
• LARPing
• Historical Wargaming
• Crafting Demos & DIY support
• New and old local gaming clubs
• Game Demos
• Escalation Leagues
• Local Events

We are very excited at the reception that our newly found organization has received, and we're proud to be of service to the communities and games we're passionate about. If you'd like to join us and thousands of other active hobbyists and gamers, consider participating in our active discord server (the nerd herd). I'll see you there!
Chay Comas Community Organizer Central Coast Games [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Marvel Comics! Here’s downloading or watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse streaming the full movie online for free on 123movies & Reddit, including where to watch the anticipated Pixar’s Movie at home. Is Lightyear 2023 available to stream? Is watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 2023 on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found a faithful streaming option/service.
​
WATCH NOW >>> Spider-Man Across the Spider Verse (2023)OnLine For Free
​
Over 25 years ago, a little boy named Andy received a Buzz Lightyear action figure in the 1995 Pixar film Toy Story. Now, all these years later, audiences will finally see the movie that inspired that action figure in the Toy Story spin-off movie, Lightyear, which is soaring into theatres this weekend.
This is not the Buzz Lightyear you know and love—the one who is best friends with Woody and voiced by Tim Allen. This is the original Buzz Lightyear, a bonafide space ranger voiced by Chris Evans, who is stranded on a hostile planet that is 4.2 million lightyears from Earth, alongside his commander and crew. The Lightyear cast also includes the voices of Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, James Brolin, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, Uzo Aduba, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

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Watch Now: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Free Online

With this new Toy Story adventure coming to theatres, you may feel the urge to revisit the classics. The decider is here to help with that. Read on to find out what Toy Story movies to watch before Lightyear and how to stream the Toy Story.
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Can I Stream Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?

You can’t stream Lightyear yet — but you’ll be able to soon. As a Disney movie, you can expect Lightyear to drop on their streaming service, Disney Plus, in the coming weeks, but the exact date of when that might happen hasn’t been announced yet.
Generally, with their cinematic releases, Disney and Pixar tend to follow either a 30-day release window or a 45-day release window. We don’t know which one they’re going with yet for Lightyear, but this means that given the movie’s global release date is June 17, we can expect Lightyear to be on Disney Plus sometime between July 21 and August 3, 2022.

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Where To Watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Online

With a new Lightyear coming out very soon, you may want to rewatch all the movies. Or, if you haven’t given the animated adventure films a shot, now is your chance.
Just click the link below to watch the full movie in its entirety. Details on how you can watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse COUGHING for free throughout the year are described below. If you’re a fan of the comics, you won’t want to miss this one! The storyline follows Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien planet. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse COUGHING is definitely a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing movie you don’t want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing online streaming is available on our website. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing online free, which includes streaming options such as 123movies, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix! Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing Release in US Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing hits theaters on September 23, 2023. Tickets to see the film at your local movie theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
Lightyear can all be streamed using an HBO Max or Hulu subscription. If you’d prefer to rent the movies, only the first two are on Prime Video. Otherwise, all three films can be rented on YouTube, Apple TV+, or Google Play Movies & TV.
The second film in the franchise, Lightyear, will be released on June 17, 2022. Right now, it’s not confirmed where the movie will be streamed after its big-screen release.

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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Netflix?

Lightyear is not available to watch on Netflix. Suppose you’re interested in other movies and shows. In that case, one can access the vast library of titles within Netflix under various subscription costs depending on the plan you choose: $9.99 per month for the basic plan, $15.99 monthly for the standard plan, and $19.99 a month for the premium plan.

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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Disney Plus?

No sign of Lightyear on Disney+, which is proof that the House of Mouse doesn’t have its hands on every franchise! Home to the likes of ‘Star Wars, ‘Marvel’, ‘Pixar’, National Geographic’, ESPN, STAR, and so much more, Disney+ is available at the annual membership fee of $79.99 or the monthly cost of $7.99. If you’re a fan of even one of these brands, then signing up to Disney+ is worth it, and there aren’t any ads, either.

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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on HBO Max?

Sorry, Lightyear is not available on HBO Max. There is a lot of content from HBO Max for $14.99 a month, such a subscription is ad-free, and it allows you to access all the titles in the library of HBO Max. The streaming platform announced an ad-supported version that costs a lot less at $9.99 per month.

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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Hulu?

They’re not on Hulu, either! But prices for this streaming service currently start at $6.99 per month or $69.99 for the whole year. The ad-free version costs $12.99 per month, $64.99 per month for Hulu + Live TV, or $70.99 for the ad-free Hulu + Live TV.

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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 2022 on Amazon Video?

Unfortunately, Lightyear is not available to stream for free on Amazon Prime Video. However, you can choose other shows and movies to watch from there as it has a wide variety of shows and movies that you can choose from for $14.99 a month.

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Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Peacock?

Lightyear is not available to watch on Peacock at the time of writing. Peacock offers a subscription costing $4.99 a month or $49.99 per year for a premium account. Like its namesake, the streaming platform is free with the content out in the open. However, limited.

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Who Is in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Cast?

Captain America himself, Chris Evans, will be the voice of the film’s titular Space Ranger. Apart from Evans, Keke Palmer (Scream Queens), Dale Soules (Orange Is the New Black), and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) have also been announced as part of the cast, lending their voices to other ambitious recruits at Star Command. The voice cast includes Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez, Peter Sohn, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Bonus: Check out this featurette where the cast talks about what Buzz Lightyear means to them.
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Hi, my name is Chay Comas, and I'm a community organizer on the Central Coast, building a community of gamers and hobbyists. This is a passion project shared by me and hundreds of others who want to build and share our communities and hobbies far and wide.
All along the Central Coast eclectic hobbies and gaming communities are quickly becoming a popular movement. From Board Games to Cosplay, communities are sprouting like wildflowers. The Central Coast Games Newsletter is free and brings all of the nerdy events on the Central Coast to one place. Stay up to date with what's happening on the Central Coast and join the movement to connect our gaming and geek communities.
Excerpt:

June 23-25 Mark your calendars and clear your schedules, because PolyCon XL is set to take place from June 23rd to June 25th, 2023, in the heart of San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly. With an exhilarating lineup of events and activities, this year's PolyCon promises to be the most thrilling installment to date. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of imagination, competition, and countless hours of gaming heaven
You'll have the opportunity to explore a diverse array of games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Mario Kart Tournaments, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer 40k, Nerf War, LARP, Cosplay, and more...

Get news of upcoming events like this, and more through the summer for the Central Coast from Monterey to Ventura Co, covering:

• Dungeons & Dragons and RPGs
• Warhammer and TMGs
• Fighting Game Tournaments
• Cosplay Competitions and Expos
• Game Conventions
• Trading Card Tournaments and Regional Qualifiers
• LARPing
• Historical Wargaming
• Crafting Demos & DIY support
• New and old local gaming clubs
• Game Demos
• Escalation Leagues
• Local Events

We are very excited at the reception that our newly found organization has received, and we're proud to be of service to the communities and games we're passionate about. If you'd like to join us and thousands of other active hobbyists and gamers, consider participating in our active discord server (the nerd herd). I'll see you there!
Chay Comas Community Organizer Central Coast Games [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])