I have a 2013 Toyota Camry with 116k miles. I have only done oil changes every 10k miles or 1 year, which is recommended by Toyota. However, online forums tells me that I need oil change every 5k or 6 months since I drive to work 5 miles one way on city streets with red lights. Will my engine still worth keeping, or should I sell this car and buy a new one? Mechanic has not reported any issues with engine yet. Other than oil changes, i have regularly done coolant flush, transmission flush, brake flush, air filters, brake pads, tire rotation etc.

View all Steam Weeklong VR Deals here!
 

Title	Price (USD)	Discount (%)	Rating (%)	Total Reviews	Release Date
HARD BULLET	15.99	20	89	2888	2020-10-22
Redout: Enhanced Edition	4.99	75	84	3243	2016-09-02
Carly and the Reaperman - Escape from the Underworld	12.99	35	91	168	2018-06-19
The Utility Room	11.19	20	91	36	2023-02-06
PLAYNE : The Meditation Game	8.99	40	95	960	2020-05-01
VR Regatta - The Sailing Game	14.99	50	82	103	2018-01-30
Oathbreakers	13.99	30	78	23	2022-10-18
FREEDIVER: Triton Down	4.49	50	84	280	2019-05-30
Lucky's Tale	6.99	65	86	36	2021-12-09
X-Fitness	4.99	75	83	99	2020-12-03
Nevrosa: Escape	7.49	50	80	100	2017-12-22
Operation Warcade VR	5.99	70	95	263	2017-08-04
Leadwerks Game Engine	19.99	60	71	297	2014-01-06
Spacescape	0.79	90	81	65	2018-03-28
Aery VR - Calm Mind	6.69	33	100	30	2022-12-19
ARK Park	7.99	80	46	347	2018-03-21
Dungeon Escape VR	0.49	90	82	173	2017-04-07
Punch Pad Workout	4.99	50	83	18	2018-08-14
Race The Sun	8.49	15	94	1862	2013-12-09
DragonRideVR	2.99	80	91	37	2020-08-01
Flying Hero VR	4.99	50	83	73	2020-11-06
Solar System VR	1.99	50	74	239	2020-09-05
STRANGER	4.49	50	81	37	2022-08-11
Motoride Rollercoaster VR	1.99	50	73	60	2020-07-22
Aery VR - Little Bird Adventure	6.69	33	93	16	2023-01-13
MiniTracks	2.49	50	79	24	2020-11-13
Warden of the Isles	3.99	60	87	33	2020-02-14
Zombie Town VR	0.49	51	93	15	2016-12-08
Temple of Aluxes	0.79	90	75	44	2017-10-25
Ultimate Booster Experience	1.74	65	78	300	2016-07-14
Tethered	13.29	30	83	191	2017-02-27
Evasion	4.99	75	72	43	2018-10-08
The Pointless Car Chase: Refueled	0.49	51	91	35	2022-02-22
Descending I - House of Nightmares	0.99	90	88	36	2021-04-09
Waddle Home	1.24	75	100	25	2016-07-07
King Kaiju	2.99	40	78	138	2017-01-31
HOST	7.49	25	91	24	2018-07-01
Big Breezy Boat - Relaxing Sailing	2.49	75	63	19	2018-10-23
ARK Park	7.99	80	46	347	2018-03-21
CDF Starfighter VR	14.99	50	59	91	2017-05-26
Lunapark VR	0.37	81	61	18	2018-03-09
69 Ways to Kill a Zombie	0.28	72	53	26	2017-06-08
Primal Carnage: Onslaught	7.49	50	45	20	2016-12-29
Time Travelling Navy Seal Ninja Warrior	0.89	85	73	15	2019-07-23
Arena: Blood on the Sand VR	0.28	72	56	37	2017-01-10
Atlantis VR	0.49	75	54	31	2017-11-03
Naau: The Lost Eye	9.99	60	64	25	2021-04-29
Horror Adventure VR	1.49	85	57	14	2020-07-03
Forbidden Pleasure	2.39	80	31	16	2020-05-09
MarineVerse Cup - Sailboat Racing	9.99	50			2019-08-21
Horror Adventure : Zombie Edition VR	1.49	85			2023-04-12
Pangman	3.59	70			2021-04-27
Space Explore	1.49	85			2021-05-04
EscapeVr	2.19	80			2020-09-01
Meditation Journey: VR Zen Garden	7.49	50			2020-06-26
VRkanoid - Brick Breaking Game	1.49	85			2022-03-16
Soulpath: the final journey	1.24	75			2021-07-09
FIRE TRUMP - Air Combat VR	1.49	70			2020-09-16
Bocce VR Simulator	1.59	60			2020-09-18
Cyber Defense 2088	9.99	50			2021-07-09
Corona Samurai	0.74	85			2021-01-27
System Critical: The Race Against Time	3.74	25			2022-07-15
Siienaa	3.49	50			2022-03-18
cyVeRpunk	4.54	35			2022-09-01
PlanTechtor	1.49	50			2019-02-27
EnterVR	4.49	55			2017-02-13
The Veteran VR	5.24	25			2019-05-29
Space Turret Gunner 宇宙大炮手	0.99	90			2022-01-07
Galaxy Ball Defender	0.49	51			2018-04-25
Mech Game	1.24	75			2020-08-04

 
The above tables can be sorted with the Reddit Enhancement Suite browser extension by clicking the header of the column you'd like to sort by.

I have a 2018 Nissan Rogue Sport that the air conditioner blows cold air intermittently at idle. It seems like at highway speeds it blows cold most, if not all; the time. It has a new cabin air filter and the ac system is charged up to the top recommended limit. Any suggestions?

This will be a long detailed post, so I hope this is ok and someone has patience with me!
2013 Maserati GranTurismo Sport - 41,623 miles , 4.7L v8 , ZF 6 Spd auto trans. 2 owner car prior, appears clean, was not tracked, or rented out, no flood damages etc. I got it last year and it had not had any issues until the alternator recently and now misfire. Always use best gasoline at stations. Gas was put in February so it is not year old gas ....also the 2013 model should not have the old cam variator design ..that should not go bad on this one.....
Misfire started on Mother's Day...
Important Back Info: Battery light came on in late February - alternator was undercharging - tested voltage output- my retired mechanical engineer father and I fixed it.....whole intake and fuel comes off .... ..brand new OEM part....brand new intake manifold gaskets all 8 done.....new air filter.......we took pictures, we made diagrams, every bolt was back in place, car was actually missing bolts (so we replaced them). I had guidance from a Maserati tech on removing systems etc.....correct torque amts...
Once finished, car started up, no more battery light, alternator output was normal and good again with the new alternator. Car was running fine on idle for some minutes. We had this alternator fixed a few days before Mothers day. Car was on CTEK battery charger while I ordered the parts etc
Issue: 3 days later I drive it on Mother's Day.... 5.2 miles to my mom's house. Seemed ok. Then I tried to leave hours later.....car starts, about 20-30 seconds in it starts sounding BAD, like a cam lope but terrible, car starts shaking like a 9.0 earthquake is happening, and flashing CEL lights. Move it in my parents garage where it has been for weeks. OBDII was giving 4 misfires and general misfire , occurring both sides of engine bank.. Misfire Cylinder 1, 5, 8, 7 plus generic misfire code
We looked at the plugs....they looked not great. I was not convinced that was the issue however. Ordered new NGK plugs, they are all in. Did not fix the issue, but needed to be done on this car, so no regrets. After plugs, erased codes, new codes read Misfire cylinder 1,5, 8 plus generic misfire code
All the codes have said along with misfire on cylinders "OVER MAXIMUM THRESHOLD"
Switched coils 8 and 7 , then the next code reading only had Misfire Cylinder 5 and generic misfire.....Odd.... switched coil 8 (in 7) into 5, and 5 into 7.......code read as generic misfire, cyl 5 misfire, , cyl 1 misfire
Disconnected MAF sensor, car did not like that, check transmission light , check suspension light, traction control light stuck on. Guessing electrical gremlin from doing that. the MAF seems clean. anyways. Idle was still BAD with it disconnected..
​
Basically: Car when completely totally totally cold starts up okay, system check runs ok, as in check engine light comes on and goes out at 15-20 seconds into start up (normal for this car).......about 30-40 seconds into the start up (when very cold ....) idle goes BAD , choppy, smells, car rocking/shaking, and CEL light flashing will come on.
​
Is this a sensor issue ? O2/lamda ?? VVT ? solenoid?
Can a vacuum leak seriously act this way despite the car being fine on the drive over to my moms? If we had the intake on wrong surely it would have been bad then?????
I would like to narrow down what it could be before towing it in to a shop if it is something I cannot diagnose or fix in my garage - which is likely - I still would like some idea of what it might be
Please no comments about me being stupid and buying a Maserati or how I should have no problems throwing $20,000 at it because I bought what I bought etc. That is not really helpful after all.
I would really appreciate any thoughts into what can be done at home to narrow down the possibilities or any thoughts at all about what could be happening so I can have productive conversations with mechanics about this. No need to go into a ton of detail....just in your experience, is anything ringing bells about a cold start being smooth and then transitions into horrible misfiring ? The car is running very badly .. I know you cannot diagnose it for sure, I am just interested in opinions if you have the time to read this and give a few thoughts.
​
Thanks.

I've been having so much fun with this little story. Here's part one if you'd like to read it in its entirety! Alien learns what "sleep" is and how humans prefer to do it in a comfy bed with blankets and pillows. And they find it utterly adorable.
To summarize:
Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick were sent on a survey mission together. Things went south, Aldrick made sure they were safe, and then Vr'ocria learned what human sleep is and how vulnerable humans are when they sleep. Vr'ocria's people don't sleep, but enter stasis, a form of rest in which they typically stand, and they are still slightly aware of their surroundings. Vr'ocria finds human sleep utterly adorable, and also decided she would protect Aldrick while he slept. And she also developed a massive crush on him. (Her scales turning purple is her version of blushing)
Vr’ocria ran the engine diagnostic again, and again it came back inconclusive. She slammed her fist on the dusty controls. “Blasted thing.” Of course she got stuck with the rusty, crusty old shuttle pod that no one else wanted. Why did these things always happen to her? She just wanted to do her job!
Not for the first time, she wished she had Human Aldrick for company.
It had been two moon cycles since Vr’ocria had last seen Aldrick. They’d only served on the one away mission together, and once they returned to the ship, they’d been sent their separate ways. They worked in separate departments, after all.
But that didn’t stop her from missing him. She’d only spent a few solar cycles with him, but somehow was already totally enamored by the human–the human who was supposed to be a terrifying, dangerous, nearly indestructible monster.
Vr'ocria had met a handful of humans during her service, and they were all polite enough. But Aldrick was the first human she'd ever spent any extended alone time with. It was on that away mission that Vr’ocria learned what “sleep” was: The human form of rest in which the human becomes completely unconscious, and thus, totally defenseless. Something about learning humans were even able of being defenseless at all, much less in such a complete way, had changed her entire perspective on them. She’d grown up always being told to fear the humans, the wild, indestructible humans.
She had been nervous enough to quake in her scales, but he was nothing but kind to her. And when she saw him sleep for the first time–planets, what a blasted cutie. During their few cycles together, she always stood by him when he slept and she went into stasis. Her people were still slightly aware of their surroundings while in stasis, so she would be able to protect him if there was danger.
She couldn’t help but worry about him ever since they separated. Who was going to keep watch while he slept? What if something happened, what if there was an ambush or a ship malfunction and he couldn’t wake up fast enough? She wanted to be there for him…
Vr’ocria cringed at the memory of when she asked her nestmate, Galek, about human mating rituals.
“You want to mate him? Are you insane?”
"No! I mean–well…" Vr'ocria reminded herself to keep her voice down; Aldrick was still sleeping in the next room. "I…Galek, listen–"
"He's a human!" Even through the communicator, she could hear his scales snap. "He's dangerous!"
"He's nice! When the away mission went wrong he made sure we were safe and–" her voice caught when she remembered the way Aldrick strolled fearlessly through a thunderstorm, one warm hand gripping her wrist, unflinching at every thunderclap and lightning strike in the sky that rattled her to her core, as he led them to a cave for shelter.
Galek sighed. "Vr'ocria, let it go. We are not compatible with humans, they do things differently anyway. They don't mate."
Vr'ocria stilled. "They don't?"
"No. Well, kind of? Ugh, why am I even telling you this…"
"Because I'm your favorite nestmate," Vr'ocria grinned.
"Shut up." There was no bite to his words. "Anyway, what I mean is that humans usually court each other first, and then mate. I think they call it 'marriage.' But that's all I know."
She hummed in thought. "This is good to know."
"Vr'ocria, I mean it." Galek was back in protective-nestmate-mode. "Drop it, it's a terrible idea. Humans are…it's just a bad idea, okay?"
"I'm not gonna do anything," she mumbled.
And what if he doesn't even like me anyway?
Her scales faded to a faint red and her shoulders slumped at the thought. Back in the present, she absent-mindedly flicked through the controls on the cracked panel in front of her. Maybe Galek was right, and she should just stay away from Aldrick altogether.
“Agent Vr’ocria, report.”
Vr’ocria jumped at the tinny voice that suddenly filled the cabin. She pressed the comm button. “Commander, this pod is–” she stopped herself from using a few choice words– “in a state of engine malfunction. I can’t even diagnose a problem. I’m not going anywhere in this thing.”
”Stand by.”
Vr’ocria drummed her fingers on the consol.
”Agent Vr’ocria, you’ve been reassigned to shuttle pod Delta. You will join a crewmate there.”
That’s right, Delta was a two-person pod. She groaned inwardly at the prospect of working with someone else in such a cramped space.
Vr’ocria tried not to drag her feet as she approached the Delta pod. The loading door was already open, and she climbed inside. “Hello? I’ve been re–”
“Vr’ocria!”
She turned towards the cockpit, and her scales flashed to purple in record time. “Aldrick?”
The human was beaming as he maneuvered through the tight space to approach her. “It’s so good to see you again!”
“What are you doing here?” she asked, silently urging her scales to go back to green. “Aren’t you in engineering?”
He shrugged, suddenly looking everywhere except her face. “I uh...I asked to be transferred to the survey department.”
“Why?”
His cheeks turned pink. They seemed to do that a lot. Vr’ocria really needed to ask the ship’s doctor if that was normal for humans or if he was getting sick. “Engineering just wasn’t doing it for me, y’know? Needed a change of pace. I volunteered for that one survey mission and it turns out I liked it, so why not try it full time?" He turned back towards the cockpit. “We should get going! I think this mission is gonna be more fun than the last one. The planet we've been assigned has a more stable atmosphere, so fewer storms."
So she and Aldrick would be working together, alone, again. Vr'ocria swallowed hard before following him to the cockpit. Oh, planets, why did these things always happen to her?
—
The trip to planet Theta-7 was quiet. Aldrick occasionally tried to engage her in conversation, but Vr'ocria pretended to be engrossed in her file pad. Guilt prodded her spine with every one-word answer and noncommittal grunt, but she was determined to keep her distance. Aldrick eventually fell quiet, and her scales nearly curled in on themselves in shame.
She avoided looking in his direction, but she still heard the sound of his canteen unscrewing and the slosh of liquid as he took a sip. Her nostrils flared at the odd, bitter-sable scent.
When she realized she recognized the smell, her eyes blew wide and she whirled to face him, dropping her pad. "What are you doing?" She nearly shrieked.
Aldrick lowered the canteen from his lips, looking startled. "Uh…drinking my coffee?"
"Coffee?" Another foreign word. "That's remfrylie! It's a deadly poison!" Her blood was rushing through her veins so fast she feared her scales would start to swell.
Aldrick laughed.
Laughed?
Her scales turned yellow and stood on end. "What is this?" She asked indignantly.
"I'm so sorry, Vr'ocria," he rubbed his eyes, still chortling. "I forgot, I should've warned you–humans call remfrylie 'coffee.' It's a beverage, we drink it. The caffeine in it gives us a boost of energy."
She stared at him.
As if making a point, he took another big gulp from the canteen, and smiled at her. "See? Totally fine."
Slowly, her blood slowed and her scales laid back down. But there was still a thrill of fear deep inside her–she'd become so enamored with him that she'd forgotten how dangerous he was. Drinking pure poison? Just for a boost of energy?
She turned away, embarrassed, a little afraid, and a little angry at him for scaring her like that. She bent over to pick up her pad from where it fell at her feet and went back to mindlessly flicking through her files.
Fabric rustled as Aldrick shifted in the seat next to her. "Hey," he said softly, "I really am sorry for scaring you. I didn't mean to do that."
"It's okay." Her voice was clipped and short.
Aldrick was quiet for a moment. "Is everything okay?" He asked slowly. "Have I…I mean, have I done something to offend you? I'm really sorry if–"
Guilt washed over her again. "No, no you haven't done anything." She finally looked over and tried for a weak smile. Now that she was actually looking at him, she could see the way he'd turned his whole body to face her, his fingers fidgeting at the edge of his seat and his warm brown eyes filled with worry.
Oh, that's right, humans had color in their eyes. Her people only had large black pupils, but humans had pupils with–what's the word–an "iris." She'd seen humans with brightly colored irises before, and while she found them beautiful, they also freaked her out. It was just so very strange.
But Aldrick's eyes…
The brown was a little closer to her own black, making them feel more familiar. In the tiny, cramped cabin, she realized that this was the first time she'd ever gotten a chance to really study his eyes up close. The brown seemed to swirl, and she noticed that there were layers of shades and colors floating around his pupils. And when natural light from a sun shining through the window hit them just right–
Aldrick cleared his throat awkwardly and turned to face forwards again. "Looks like we're here."
Vr'ocria looked forward and saw Theta-7's solar system quickly approaching. Oh, right. They had a mission to do.
—
Theta-7 was warm, just how she liked it. The sand, not so much. She tightened her boot laces twice to keep sand from finding its way inside.
The mission, thankfully, went smoothly. Walk, scan, record. Walk, scan, record. Being out in the field was different from working aboard the ship like she usually did, but she found she enjoyed it. With the agreeable weather, she quite liked the peaceful repetitiveness of the work.
Although, things were still awkward between her and Aldrick. She fought the urge to make excuses to drift away from him–since it was just the two of them, they needed to remain within eyesight of each other in case anything happened. As a result, she had a front row seat to Aldrick’s human antics. He climbed trees like it was nothing, crossed a stream by easily hopping from boulder to boulder, nibbled on plants he claimed were edible but that still made Vr’ocria’s scales ripple with unease, and even insisted on approaching a ferocious, furry creature with his hand outstretched and cooing “Hi kitty! Hi baby! Come here, let me give you scritchies, come on–”
Vr’ocria didn’t know what a “kitty” was, but a baby it definitely wasn’t. “Aldrick, please,” she called weakly.
“But she’s so cute!”
“It’s got claws! And look at its big teeth!”
Aldrick grinned as the creature crept closer. Its head came to Aldrick’s hip from where he knelt, still reaching out with his fingers and making a scratching motion in the air. “Naw, she’s just a little baby, aren’t you sweetie? Come ‘ere!”
Vr’ocria trembled on the spot as the creature was finally within arm’s reach of Aldrick. He began scratching its sandy-colored head, and to her disbelief, the creature closed its big eyes and leaned into his touch. “Oh, yes,” Aldrick positively giggled, “you’re such a sweet little baby, aren’t you?”
Vr’ocria could only stare, stunned, as he continued scratching the creature’s head, then its cheek and chin–extremely close to its massive fangs.
“All kitties like scritchies, huh?” he cooed at the…kitty.
Okay, they were kind of cute.
It, she corrected herself. The ”kitty” was cute. Not him. Definitely not.
She didn’t notice her scales flushing a soft pink as she watched him nearly pull the “kitty” into his lap, beaming and petting it. A gentle smile crossed her lips.
Aldrick glanced over at her and tilted his head. “You’re pink. That’s new, I haven’t seen that color on you before.”
Vr’ocria’s blood froze and her scales immediately flashed to purple. Blast. Shit. Fuck. Great, now she was picking up human curse words.
He blinked at the sudden change in color.
"Oh it’s–” she coughed, “it’s nothing. Just the heat, I think.”
“Are you okay?” He eased away from the creature as he stood, and it darted off into a hole in the rocks. “Do we need to take a break?”
Stop being so NICE, she growled inwardly. “No no,” she squeaked instead. “I’m fine. Let’s keep going.” She buried her head in her scanner and walked briskly towards the next scanning zone.
When night fell, the two of them made their way back to the shuttle pod. They still had scanning to do, but it wasn’t safe to work through the night, so they agreed it was best for them to take rest inside the pod.
Once they were safely inside, Aldrick laid out what he called a “bedroll” on the floor of the cockpit, between the two pilot seats. Still dressed in his uniform, he laid down and shifted until he appeared as comfortable as he could get. Tugging a blanket over himself, he glanced toward Vr’ocria. “Well...good night.”
“Sleep well,” she murmured. She stood in the short aisle in front of him, facing the door, and began to enter stasis. Despite how much she’d come to struggle with her feelings for him, she was still determined to protect him while he slept.
It was in the middle of the night when Vr’ocria snapped back to full awareness.
Thud.
There it was again.
Shuffle shuffle.
She whirled around and threw herself on top of Aldrick, clapping a hand over his mouth as he jerked awake with a muffled shout.
“Shh!” she hissed. “Something’s out there.”
He stared up at her with wide eyes as she slowly removed her hand. She didn’t move from her position on top of him as she looked up and around the cabin, trying to discern where the sound was coming from.
Thud.
“The door,” Aldrick whispered, looking over her shoulder.
There was one last thud, then a beeping sound.
”Shit!”
Without warning, Aldrick was grabbing her shoulders and flipping them so that he was on top, and before she could even react, there was a core-rattling BOOM.
She couldn’t hear herself scream as a shockwave blew fire and debris over them, and then everything went dark.
Vr’ocria groaned as she came to, her head pounding. She found herself sprawled in the sand, looking up at the night sky. She slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, her limbs heavy. “What…” when her eyes focused, she gasped in horror.
The side of the shuttle pod where the door used to be now had a big hole blasted through it. Debris and supplies were strewn out across the ground, and judging by the drag marks, it looked like someone had dragged her body out and thrown her haphazardly into the sand.
She leapt to her feet, stumbled, fell, and jumped up again. Forcing her legs to steady under her, she stormed into the pod, and came face-to-face with a Norvidian pirate.
“Fucking pirate,” she roared, drawing her fist back and punching him right in the face. He yelped and dropped the thing he was dragging, and with horror, she realized it was Aldrick.
Something deep and primal flooded through her veins, and she grabbed the Norvidian's head. She slammed it against the wall, once, twice, three times, before dropping him to the ground, where he oozed yellow blood.
“Well that was fucking scary.”
Vr’ocria snapped out of her haze.
Aldrick was struggling to climb to his feet, and she darted forward to catch him before his face hit the floor. “Oh planets, oh my–Aldrick, are you alright?”
He rubbed a hand over his face, still looking dazed. “Yeah, I think–I think I’m okay.” He laughed, and it sounded a little hysterical. “Did you kill that guy?”
She looked over at the pirate, and somehow, she felt no remorse. “I hope so,” she growled. Logically, she knew the pirate was probably just tossing the two of them outside so he could raid their supplies. But the sight of him dragging a limp and pale Aldrick was burned into her memory, and her bright yellow scales rippled with rage.
“Jesus, you’re fucking scary when you’re angry.” He laughed again. “It’s kinda hot.” He turned pink and his face twisted in an expression she didn’t recognize. “Uh, pretend I didn’t say that.”
Vr’ocria didn’t know what it meant for something to be “hot,” so she played along and pretended she didn’t hear that. “We need to get you cleaned up,” she said instead. “Can you stand?”
Aldrick started to shift his legs, then went tense and dropped his head to her shoulder with a groan, fingers gripping her arms. It was then that Vr’ocria was able to lean forward enough to see his back, and she gasped.
The back of his shirt was in tatters, stained red with blood. Cuts and burns raced across his skin, and Vr’ocria knew that if she had taken the blast like that, she would be dead.
“Aldrick–” her throat felt thick, “Your back…shit–”
His breathing was ragged against her shoulder. “Hurts like a bitch,” he ground out, “but it won’t kill me. Just need to disinfect and bandage it.”
She laid him down on his stomach as gently as possible and rushed to the cockpit, praying that the first aid kit was undamaged. “Thank the planets,” she breathed as her fingers closed around the handle of an intact box.
She tried to steady her shaking fingers as she gingerly cut his shirt away and began dressing the wounds according to the kit’s instructions for treating humans. She also dressed the few injuries that ran down the back of his legs. Luckily–or unluckily–the damage was concentrated on his back. While she worked, she could see his muscles tense tight enough to crack, his teeth grinding and his hands clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles were white. She knew there had to be painkillers in the first aid kit, but she wanted to get his wounds dressed as fast as possible to prevent him from bleeding anymore. All she could do in the meantime was whisper quiet apologies.
Once she’d gotten him bandaged up, she finally dug through the kit. “Here,” she said as she fumbled with a bottle, “I found some pain killers, they’re supposed to be fast acting. You just let them dissolve in your mouth.”
She could tell he was in too much pain to move, so she held two of the pills up to his lips. He let her feed them to him, and after a few moments, he visibly began to relax. “Oh, that’s good shit,” he slurred into the floor.
“Feel better?” Vr’ocria asked hopefully.
“Yeah.” His voice was still crackly and weak. “Still aches a bit, but I don’t wanna scream about it anymore.”
“Good.” She stood and draped a blanket over him. “Now, stay put and don’t try to move. I need to figure out how to get us out of here.”
The shuttle pod wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. When she investigated the control panel, she found that the blast had knocked out communications, and their personal communicators were wrecked as well. “Great,” she mumbled.
Making her way back outside, she glanced around until she saw the pirate’s tiny craft a distance away. He must’ve landed out there so we wouldn’t hear him, she mused. She was reluctant to leave Aldrick alone, but she jogged the distance and pried the door open. The thing was a rust bucket, stinky and creaky, and she quickly decided she didn’t want to risk loading Aldrick up in that thing.
What to do, what to do…
Then she remembered: There was a survey outpost a few kilometers from here. She could take him there for professional treatment, rest, and to contact their ship.
When she got back to the pod, Aldrick was standing, leaning against the wall.
"How are you feeling?" She asked as she approached.
His eyes seemed clearer now as he met her gaze. "I've been worse," he said with a crooked smile.
Vr'ocria thanked the planets for human durability.
She let out a breath. "There's a survey outpost near here, due east. It's a few hours' walk. Do you think you can make it?"
Rather than answering, he stooped to pick up a blanket from the floor, shook out the dirt and debris, and threw it around his shoulders to cover his naked torso. "Let's go." He hopped easily out of the pod, and Vr'ocria could only shake her head in disbelief as she followed him. Humans truly were unbreakable.
It was still nighttime, but the clouds in the sky had cleared to reveal two big, bright moons that illuminated their way. Vr'ocria kept a close eye on Aldrick as they walked. While at first he seemed totally unaffected by his wounds now that they'd been dressed, she was beginning to notice the tight lines around his eyes, his white knuckles where he fisted the blanket, and the way each step he took was just a little shaky.
After walking in silence for nearly an hour, she finally found her voice. "Thank you," she said quietly, "for saving me back there."
He looked at her with those warm brown eyes and she thought she would melt. "Anytime."
Stupid purple scales.
They were halfway to the outpost when Aldrick collapsed. His knees hit the ground and Vr'ocria darted forward with a yelp to catch him before he went all the way down.
"Aldrick!" She shook him. "Look at me! Hey, hey…"
But all he could do was groan as his head lolled in her hands, slumping forward so that he sagged against her. Vr'ocria tried not to panic, but her scales stood on end anyway. "Aldrick!" This time her voice cracked.
Okay, okay, calm down, he's gonna be fine, he's human, it's gonna be okay… But doubt still twinged in her spine.
She ruffled her scales. Snap out of it.
"Okay. Aldrick," she took his face in her hands, "I need to put you on my back, but you'll have to help me."
He didn't respond.
She slapped him.
"Ow!" His eyes shot open. "Jesus, woman–"
"Look at me. I need to put you on my back, and you have to help me."
He blinked, eyes still cloudy, but finally nodded. It took some maneuvering, but Vr'ocria finally got him situated on her back–"piggy back style," he called it. She held his legs around her waist, and used the blanket to tie him to her. She could feel his warmth and heartbeat from where he was pressed against her back. His breath ghosted across the nape of her neck, sending tingles over her scales.
She tightened her grip around his knees as she walked. My human.
"You're pink again," Aldrick mumbled behind her ear.
Vr'ocria pressed on.
—
By the time they reached the outpost, her back was aching and her feet were sore, but she didn't care. She waved down the watchmen, and within minutes they were being swarmed by a med team. Aldrick was now fully unconscious and much too pale, and the medics wasted no time loading him up on a stretcher and carrying him to the med bay. When they tried to insist that Vr'ocria go to a separate room for evaluation, she snarled and snapped her yellow scales until they backed off.
She wasn't leaving Aldrick's side for a minute.
By the next morning, the med team had worked their magic and Aldrick was sleeping peacefully. He was curled on his side like he usually did, his face free of lines, lips parted, softly sighing with each breath.
Stupid human and his stupid cute sleeping.
She brushed his hair from his face, gently trailing her fingers across his cheek. Human skin was much softer compared to her scales, and warmer too. Aldrick had once explained that humans are "mammals," creatures that were "warm blooded." Her people were "cold blooded." Maybe that explained why she always wanted to touch him, hold him, feel his warmth…
Aldrick shifted and sighed, and her breath caught as he leaned into her hand. His eyes cracked open and he gazed blearily up at her. "Hi," he croaked.
She smiled. "Hi."
"You're still pink," he observed. "Are you okay? Did you get checked out?"
Blast all the planets. "I'm okay," she assured him. "My people turn pink when…when, um…I-I'll tell you another time," she stuttered. Galek was going to kill her.
Aldrick reached up to take her hand from where it still rested on his cheek. "Thank you for taking care of me."
She squeezed his hand. "Anytime."
This got so much longer than I thought it would 😂 How do we feel about one more part where these two idiots finally admit their feelings for one another?

Updated May 2023
After changing reddit accounts and about a year since posting it, it seemed prudent to throw this up for visibility. :)
Few things are worse than not knowing what happened to a loved one. Which is what convinced Robin Ayou to get into a drop shuttle with a lifepod with basically nothing, then fire herself down onto an ocean planet where the only place that she could investigate was a tiny little patch of barely-even-land and pray she can survive long enough to find a way to get off the planet.
Nobody ever told Robin she was great at forward planning.
https://subnauticamap.io/belowzero - This map will provide direction/orientation for this guide, but BEWARE! It marks spoilers if you turn those on!

Touchdown

Once you've landed, you'll find some food and water to start you off scattered around the ship. You won't have to worry about getting cold, since standing next to your now-burning ship will warm you up and the meteors coming down don't actually paste you, they're mostly to stress you out.
Note that may not be the case later. The weather in this game is a serious thing.
Once you have your stuff, you'll find the drop pod on your HUD. Don't go straight to it, though. As soon as you hit the water, look for an indentation in the ground. You'll find some copper in there. Then, follow the northern glacial wall (That's to your right when you're looking at your lifepod) until you find a small cave, which will have some silver and gold. That'll get you started off nicely. Get to your lifepod, take a look at your fabricator. You'll find that the items you have blueprints for can be pinned to the top-right in your PDA by clicking on them in the blueprints tab, a useful feature when hunting for materials.
Your goals right now are your basic survival tools. Note that the kelp forest is a bad place to hold your stuff in your hand. The sea monkeys are kleptomaniacs and will gank your stuff. You can totally get it back though, it just means chasing after them a bit, which is annoying and wastes time. However, if you pull out a flare and hold it in front of them, they freak out and run away from you for a little bit.

Time To Get Rolling

Your first task, as indicated by the PDA, is to find Delta Island. This becomes relatively easy once you find a compass. If you've gone to the emergency cache you'll have the beacon blueprint so stock up on them before traveling so you can mark things. You're going to be making a lot of these but since you can toggle them it's not so bad, you'll just need a lot of beacons. Its south of where the drop pod lands. As you spread out your searching range you'll find that the sea floor drops down among twisty coral structures.
This area is called Twisty Bridges. It's the main go-to for coral samples and you'll want those. There's small bits of Alterra stuff scattered around the area. It's here you'll find mobile vehicle bay, sea truck and seaglide fragments. When you've been in the area for a bit, you'll hear what sounds like an SOS. It's worth checking that out and you'll find that this spot goes deeper than you might suspect. Makes you wonder what's down there, doesn't it?
Beyond Twisty Bridges lies the thermal spires, an area of volcanic activity and thermal smokers. Many sea truck fragments are here. The wildlife here is noisy and menacing sounding but if you don't hang out next to them they're easy to avoid. Smacking one with a blade will made it instantly turn and get the hell away from you. They don't like being hit. On the border between thermal spires and twisty bridges someplace is a small foundation platform with external grow beds for you to scan, but you can get these at Omega Station later if you're not sweating on it. There are large crevices and a few volcanic fissures out here. Beware the heat vents, but exploring those areas can pay off, later.
On the island, you'll find blueprints you need, as well as some materials like sulfur and horseshoe nuts. The latter are very useful to plant in the seabase you'll be wanting. Take care to look around thoroughly for blueprints you'll find useful, as not all of them are inside the buildings. Also, keep a sharp eye out for music disks which you'll find scattered throughout the game, especially in bases.
On the south-west corner of the island is a precursor artifact you can scan. Look for the beach with all the pengwings on it. The habitat builder can be found on a box outside Delta Station. Make sure to scan the map inside the sea base. There's also a PDA up by the comms tower.

Let's Go Explorin'

So, by now you've visited Delta Island, have had a good look around Twisty Bridges and you've probably discovered the sea monkey caves in Kelp Forest. If you haven't gone exploring in those, you really ought to. You'll find more MVB fragments there but that's also where the propulsion cannon blueprint can be found, the laser cutter, as well as a fair amount of gold and some precursor artifacts as well. Once that's all done with and taken care of, you've probably got at least a tiny seabase, but if you don't... what are you doing?
Go on, shoo. Go make a base.
...
Okay, got one now? Good! Hopefully it's someplace nice. Your basic sea truck can't get down to where you want to be going next but a depth module will take care of that. A MkII depth module will let you get to the very bottom of where you want to go. Where do you want to go? Koppa Mine. You'll find it on the western side of the island. Take care to look around when you find the door eventually, since there is a databox just inside the main doors, before you head down. It has the moonpool and will allow you to get that much earlier than you would through scanning it.
To drive the seatruck inside the mine, drive north from the entrance of Koppa mine, you'll come across a volcanic fissure in the seafloor nearby which has JUST enough space for you to fit your seatruck through it. The fissure leads right into Koppa Mine, allowing you to drive the seatruck inside!
The other alternative is actually spare air tanks. Totally a viable solution so long as you remember to refill them by equipping them once you're out of the water. You can swap them out mid-dive and extend your breathing time, which is handy since the prawn fragment blueprints you require are kinda far down there. If you're free diving in this way, note that the bottom chamber of the mine has a hole in the ceiling leading to a small cave system which will lead you back to the surface, as well as having a number of oxygen plants to keep you from choking on the way. The entrance to that is almost right next to the Delta Station docks.
Also note that Site Zero, which has useful blueprints, can be found by hugging the northern glacial wall and heading east along it. You can find it by checking breaks in the ice, one of them leads up to a small hidden cave where the base lies. But if you don't find it, you'll be directed here later. It just has some useful things to scan and a lantern fruit tree. There is a music disk here.

Way Down South

By now you've probably answered the SoS. If not, go do that. As you hang out with Al-An, he'll give you prompts to artifacts that you haven't found yet, if you dawdle in looking for the required number. At this point you should have the following:

• A sea base, even a basic one. The databox in Koppa Mine's entrance will grant you the moon pool but if you missed it, you can get the blueprint later following the storyline.
  
• Seaglide, knife, propulsion cannon, beacons, repair tool, scanner, flashlight, builder tool
  
• Seatruck with at least one depth module
  
• Prawn blueprints
  

Building the Prawn is surprisingly easy, but requires lithium, a material you probably haven't seen a lot of yet. There's a little scattered around in thermal spires, but only a little. You can find a lot at purple vents, but be careful to avoid the doom shrimp. A chelicarate hangs out here. There are other things in this area which are relevant to you which you'll want to mark out for later. There is a small seatruck crash site with a variety of fragments out here, if you find it, look around carefully for the music disk that's here.
Following the marker for the unknown pilots last position, you will find a green area rich in confusing cave systems. This area is the lilypads zone. Old girl can be found down near the signal, just look for the shimmering things on the wall, the hive minds. She's near them. Grab the seatruck defense module she has in there. Be sure to pick up the databox directly outside her base to get the stillsuit as well and if you follow the caves down where they turn blue you'll stumble on an old thermal plant of hers, where another databox lies. There's fragments scattered all over this zone as well as The mercury II stern, which lays on the border between lilypads and purple vents, as well as the bow, which is a little further in on the western side of lilypads. Be sure to explore the area thoroughly and take note of the massive crevasse near the middle of the zone. Inside the chunk of land here is Omega Lab, which will net you the external grow beds, nuclear plant, nuclear disposal as well as a couple new beds and the antenna plants. It's in this area you'll need to search for nickel later, so building a scanner station here is a good idea. Deep Lilypads holds an Al-An body part you'll require. Deep Lilypads is also the only place you can acquire the materials to manufacture benzene.
Don't go too close to the Lily Paddlers, unless you like being off your face, in which case go say hi, it's hilarious. Trust me. ;D
In order to disable the satellite for Dances-With-Reapers, you're going to need to wreck dive the Mercury II. Two of its sections can be found in purple vents, while the bow - the largest - can be found in Lilypads, west of Omega Labs floating island. You'll need the laser cutter for this. Your goal is to scan the parallel processors in the wreck, but there's all kinds of really useful stuff in there too, not to mention all the titanium. ALL the titanium. So be sure to drop beacons on these things, bring a spare air tank and bring your pathfinder tool. If you don't have the pathfinder tool, go look around in the caves full of emeralds between Phi Robotics docks and Phi Robotics itself. There is one up on a small ridge in one of those caves. If you can't find it, don't worry though, just bring flares and use them as breadcrumbs while diving to prevent yourself from getting too lost. The alien containment tank, reinforced dive suit, parallel processor can be found in these. A music disk is in the bow section on a bridge console.

LAND HO!

Aaah, glacial basin. How I hate thee. The basin is split into four sections, two for each part of the basin, north and south. South is where you'll probably end up first. You can find the docks to access this area by tracking along the northern glacial wall and continuing west until you come to the eye jellyfish. Check the radio tower next to the docks, there is a music disk there. The upper southern area is where Phi Robotics lays, as well as frost vase plants and spicy peppers. Both of those are excellent crops to grow, as they net you useful things. The spicy peppers scattered throughout the entirety of glacial basin essentially means that you'll not starve while out here so long as you're paying attention to what you're doing. Note that snow stalkers REALLY HATE FLARES. They'll make your trips out here annoying, even in the prawn, which is the best way to ensure the weather isn't a factor for you. Sometimes they're in the caves. Flares will make exploring these much safer.
You can get to lower glacial basin through the upper part, but it's a bit confusing and I prefer to access it via the glacial tunnel. Head south along the western glacial wall from the glacial basin docks and you'll find a tunnel which eye jellyfish are hanging out near. This tunnel leads directly to lower glacial basin and provides a convenient way to access the area without needing to travel through upper GB every time.
Northern Glacial Basin can be accessed by scanning the hydraulic fluid on the bridge, then repairing the bridge to cross it. DO NOT GO HERE WITHOUT THE PRAWN. SERIOUSLY. The grip arm is very handy to have out here and if you haven't found it, use a scanner room in Lilypads to find the sea monkey nests but it's not necessary so don't stress if you don't have it. Just don't use the snow fox. It's useless and handles like crap.
The iceworms here are dangerous if you stay still too long. Take your time, explore thoroughly and mark out any Alterra sites you find with beacons. A couple of these have the blueprints for the Thumper and this is your ticket to working in this area safely. A thumper will keep the iceworms away within a radius, ensuring you don't get whacked while picking stuff up outside the prawn.
Along the western wall of this zone is a small cave with three large ion cube deposits. Keep a sharp eye out for it, you definitely want those. At the north-east tip of the zone you'll find ice worm corpses you can scan that don't put you in mortal danger during the attempt.
Really funny seeing them pop up and chow down on snow stalkers, though. Pay back sucks, don't it? Al-An's body part is out here. Keep an eye out for the precursor cables and make sure to check all the caves, because the master gateway leading to Phi Robotics is here as well. The room containing the gateway leads to a small docks and tunnel with an ice wall you can cut through to easily access the middle of northern glacial basin from the docks. There is a music disk at those docks as well.

Going Down?

By now you're probably wondering where to go. Remember purple vents? The engine part of the mercury II has a crevasse leading down to where you need to go next. Once you've found the crystal caves, you better hope you picked up the defense module at Marg's base. It's sitting inside her room and sometimes gets knocked to the floor when Preston jumps you. You'll be wanting it for what's down here.
The Shadow Leviathan.
Ohhhh boy are they ever aggressive. Good news for you though, they patrol around on a set route and they don't go through the whole of crystal caves. You'll be looking for fragments here, as well as materials. Lots of gold, silver and kyanite in the crevasses in the floor of these caves. An Al-An body part, the final one, can be found at the bottom of a tunnel which is mouthed by a circular formation of crystals. Once you have it, you'll want to go even deeper to find the fabrication facility, forcing you to wander crystal caves until you find the blood crystal caves.

Oh Yeah, It's All Comin' Together

So, you now have everything you need to build your home boy a body. Once that's done, you'll be wanting to wrap up the bit with Sam. If you've explored lower southern glacial basin, you'll have found the cave with the frozen leviathan. Oh, and grab the music disk in the security bunker. Exploring this cave gets you some useful stuff. You know the little caves here with the blinking markers? Explore these with spy penglings! There's some useful stuff in some of them, actually. Including the antidote Sam hid. You can use that on the loader located on the upper part of the leviathan in the cave.
And... that's that! That's the whole game.

Tips and Tricks

• The air bladder can pull a tiny amount of air into your tank. It's not very much but those 10 seconds of extra air can save your life in a deep pinch.
  
• You can find lots of quartz if you hug the northern ice wall and roam east of west, but be careful of the brinewings. They'll freeze your ass, which can be inconvenient if you're low on air.
  
• Frost Anemone Hearts are actually a really great food source and should be picked up any time you can get them. They'll last forever in the fridge.
  
• Made your base with some helpful sea monkey neighbours? After awhile they stop stealing from you and begin trying to help you - but they don't know what you want! If you mark blueprints in your PDA, they'll try and bring you materials for that if they can.
  
• Most predators will back off if you feed them a fish before they bite you. This includes leviathans. You might still get hurt from them slamming into you or something but feeding them a fish will usually cause them to stop attacking you. This doesn't work against the shadow leviathan, it hates you and everything you hold dear. It doesn't know what those things are, but it doesn't care either. It just does.
  
• Spare air tanks are great and can be kept stocked in your sea truck, but remember to put them on to refill them.
  
• Animals will react to your behavior in some instances. Feel tree to try new things with them like feeding fish. You can even ride on glow whales! Some of them really hate flares too, like sea monkeys and snow stalkers.
  
• Surface bases are a completely viable thing in this game and some of the ice sheets have holes in them, allowing you to have a surface base with a dropped section for moonpools and water filters. Water filters will work outside of the water, but you don't get salt and they're much slower.
  
• Get the cold suit as soon as you can. It's in Phi Robotics. It changes your outside time from 2 minutes to 7 minutes, which is a huge difference. Without it, the prawn is the only way to explore the surface without constantly stressing about freezing to death. You can find the tufts of fur in snow stalker caves where the pups are, make sure you have a flare if you don't like getting nommed on.
  
• Can't figure out how to get on top of the ice sheet, but you want a base up there? Swim down deep and use the air bladder to get some height. You can build a hallway up there, then drop a ladder down into the water to make a surface base with an underwater docking section. Alternatively, you can probably get up there with the prawn and the grip arm.
  
• Speaking of the prawn and grip arm, you can totally launch yourself with it. Attaching the grip to the ground and using it to pull yourself into a jump will get you some serious air time, which is helpful for getting up small ridges on the surface. If you break the map and managed to get above it in the prawn, return to the player area. Being up there breaks progression completely and the only interesting thing is a leftover animation testbed east of glacial basin. The collision on terrain is also patchy here and it's possible to fall through the ground into the void. In your prawn. So don't screw around up there too much.
  
• Spicy peppers and coffee will both warm you up while on the surface, which makes the spicy peppers scattered all over the place pretty valuable.
  
• The greenhouse you get sent to can be found in Lilypads on an iceberg. The three large icebergs here all have things to find so be sure to search thoroughly.
  
• The crashed ship is a great place to get a lot of metal very quickly and will basically hand you a free sea base so long as you're willing to go keep picking it up. If you've already looted it all, give it awhile and check back later, sometimes new scrap shows up as the wrecks continue their eventual rot.
  
• Drop emergency caches of food, water, medpacks, batteries, power cells and flares along with a beacon and never be caught short on supplies because you went out looking for stuff and forgot to bring rations. D'oh!
  
• A small base specifically for replacing vehicles is very helpful when you lose one. Have the materials gathered beforehand and you won't have to spend a long time struggling to get them together after the bad feeling of having your stuff crunched.
  
• Be sure to look for creature eggs out in glacial basin
  
• Rock punchers are jerks and will kill stuff in your containment tank, so now you know, and knowing is half the battle. And the lives of your fish.
  
• There is no good way to scan the leviathans, but your scan progress gets saved if you don't scan other things, so letting it chow down on your seatruck and scanning it while it's distracted, then repairing your vehicle after, will allow you to get the whole scan after a couple rounds.
  
• Make scanner rooms everywhere. Solar panels and bio reactors are your friend. Nuclear power is better but not viable in early game. If you need magnetite, go to the glacial tunnel and look at the ice walls just where the tunnel curves upwards, you'll find ore fissures there with magnetite inside.
  
• Beacons, beacons, beacons. I can't stress this enough, litter them EVERYWHERE. You can toggle them on and off in your PDA, so having a bajillion around the map isn't really a problem and they're really useful.
  
• There are more precursor artifacts than Al-An mentions to you. Keep a sharp eye out, look everywhere and scan for ion cubes. Check icebergs for moulins, AKA hollow chambers inside. You'll need a laser cutter to access the ones you find.
  
• Tree Spires has a hell of a lot of uraninite in its cave systems, it's a good spot to stock up on it. Beware the chelicarate in the zone.
  
• The crystal caves are roughly the shape of a spiral. Knowing this makes navigating them a lot less mystifying. Mind you, it's still difficult. As usual, use beacons a lot. Also make sure to explore the cracks in the floor of the cave!
  
• Penglins/Pengwings drown if you leave them in the alien containment tank after hatching :( They have to hold their breaths. If you breed them, make sure to set them free.
  
• There are no large nodes for lead. You must search for galena outcrops with the scanner room. It's pretty much the only way to stock up on the stuff. The other one people have a lot of trouble with is Magnetite, which can only be found in lower glacial basin. You'll want a scanner room to find it. Upper glacial basin has a TON of lithium if you can handle the ice worms... as well as three large mining nodes for ion cubes hidden in a cave.
  
• Keep exploring Upper Glacial Basin even if you find the precursor body part. There are ice worm corpses and a slipgate out here for you to find. The slipgate links to the Phi Robotics slipgate and has a tunnel which leads directly back out to the docks that you can only cut open from the inside. There's also a music disk down there on a crate so keep a sharp eye out when you find it.
  

Good luck, Robin!

Elvis isn’t dead, he just went home.
Exploratory scout DSX862-QQ1 was cruising along at approximately 80% of lightspeed on an outer spiral arm of the galaxy it was native to. Its mission, issued by the Greater Council Exploratory Committee, was to seek out new life, new civilizations, points of scientific interest, and potential future colonies.
80% of the speed of light was a tremendous pace, even for a craft built by a galactic community as ancient as the Greater Council, but its particle shield was more than up to the task, and it allowed the scout to scoop interstellar dust and hydrogen to refuel itself, slowly charging its drives for the next pinch-jump. Each jump would catapult the little craft a hundred light years forwards, followed by another sub-light cruise to analyse, recharge and listen. It wasn’t expected to find much out here. Life had evolved in the warm, bright galactic core, entire civilizations meeting within decades of reaching orbit of their respective home worlds. Resources were plentiful, many of them had been talking for centuries before meeting face to face, with only years of communications lag, instead of the decades or centuries between the species evolving further out, in the colder reaches.
Out here, on the arm, everything was cold. Even the search for possible colony sites and resources was more a formality, record keeping for the sake of the endless bureaucracy that infested the Council.
So, it had come as a tremendous surprise to the scouts simple intelligence when it picked up the ghostly whisper of a deliberate radio signal.
Pulses, blips, zaps, hisses, all were the normal background noise of the cosmos, but this was a firm BUZZ. Soon followed by strings and knots of beeps. The scout rotates, following its radio antenna ‘nose’ to lock in a direction towards the noise. It spooled up its pinch-drive, and jumps, a few lightyears, not enough to drain its energies, but just enough to allow it to triangulate. Then jump again, to get a third point. A fourth, a fifth.
A yellow star, a few billion years old, spectral and gravitational indications speaking of gas giants, rocky and icy bodies, and a potential habitable zone with a world skimming just along the outer edge of the habitable zone. The source of the signals.
The scout spooled its pinch-drive once more, preparing to make the thirty something lightyear jump to close with the noisy world.
It also began the process of waking up its Commander.
++++++++
Kevin Karl and the Karlsons wound down their last song of the evening, sweating under the stage lights and bathed in the adoration of the crowd. This was IT, the high they had all dreamed of, had chased through bars, opening acts, and finally, after just a few years, headline act of a whole show!
They’d bopped along to the other acts on that night, friends all, they’d been on tour together for weeks across the entire USA and would be playing two more shows before wrapping up for the year.
Off-stage, past the cheering, singing, breathless fans of rock and roll, brought together by the joy of the new genre that seemed to defy boundaries and break the locks of society. When they played, no-one saw the colour of their skin, Joeys scars, Mikes club foot. The band couldn’t make out individuals in the crowd. They saw humanity, united and beautiful, wrapped in the music they played.
One of the opening acts were gathered back stage, still bouncing, and their singer passed over a reefer cigarette. Kevin took a drag, feeling the smoke sooth his nerves as he passed it on, then he choked and laughed. “That was some show, could you feel them?”
The other singer, Jack ‘Wabbit’ let out a howl, “Hell yeah baby, felt like lightning, smooth lightning all through… wait, that gives me an idea for a song!”
He was off, crouching awkwardly as he pulled a pencil and notebook from somewhere and started scribbling.
Kevin chuckled, took a beer from Joey, and started walking towards the car. While far from brand new, it was big enough to take the band in relative comfort, while the instruments and gear followed in trucks. He climbed in back, sprawling across the bench, and closed his eyes. It was a thousand miles to the next venue, they were already running late to start getting organised, but he needed just a moment.
He was woken by a nudge. “Hey, Kev, you want a ride down to Jacksonville? Wabbit says his cousin has a plane, can take you both to Florida, rest of us will come down with the trucks, faster then the Catalina can get us there.”
Kevin blinked, groggy, but hanging on to getting to the next stop in comfort.
“Damn, yeah, I’m in! No way I’m passing up a planeride in comfort!”
++++++
The commander of DSX862-QQ1 listened to the sounds of the boisterous world her small ship had discovered. To say it was barely habitable was an understatement. Plenty worlds had higher gravity, but not the weather extremes this one had. Others had far worse weather but lacked the deadly pathogens that were detectable in the outer reaches of the atmosphere. Others still had some version or variation of every horrific threat this single world had, but never so many of them wrapped into one pristine appearing blue and green ball of life that seemed determined to survive by any means necessary.
She was impressed that life had evolved to multicellular levels at all, never mind to the point where it had achieved radio broadcast, powered flight and, if the latest scans were accurate, atomic power, weaponry, and the rudiments of space flight under development.
This world was only a few centuries from needing a first contact delegation, she could sense it.
If they survived. She’d seen plenty of far more peaceful civilisations wipe themselves out before achieving their full potential after all, and the light-delayed data her ship had gathered on the way in indicated that the primary species of this world **really** liked to fight one another.
Well, it wasn’t as if the Greater Council was perfect. A few hundred worlds, usually half at odds with the other half, or outright warring with the non-aligned groups surrounding them. Over what, she could hardly imagine, resources weren’t scarce, habitable worlds almost common, matters of religion seemed pointless to her.
Rather than be caught up in the endless squabbling, she’d worked to be assigned a scout ship, and only went ‘home’ when the databanks were full or the hull degraded.
She flipped idly through the signals her ship was pulling in. Mostly simple vocal signals, some barely encrypted, likely military, the rest completely in the clear. For a while there had been a simple video signal modulated as well, the computers now busy going through it to compile a useable language interface.
Her digit stopped, as one transmission caught her attention. There was a voice there, the words as yet unintelligible, but it was laced through, interwoven with, strung around a **sound**.
It wasn’t the first she’d heard of music from this world, nor even the first she’d heard following this particular set of musical rules, but there was something about **this** voice… It reached inside her, and she felt her soul reach out to embrace it.
It was memetic, the warning symbol now flashing on her display confirming what she already knew, but memetics were weapons, hazards, dangers to be filtered and avoided, while this?
It spoke of pain, it sang of loss, and heartbreak and joy and unity and togetherness. It sent her thoughts on strange tangents where her actions saved worlds, brought together warning species, enabled peace…
She shook off the effects as the music faded out and a smooth voice mumbled something, before the next song started. That too, touched her, yet lacked the sheer power of the first, and she was able to shut off the recording with a shaky digit.
She fumbled the ships controls, aligning with the source of the original transmission. A rickety looking steel tower with several high-powered emitters inside a small building next to it. Clearly not the source of the music itself, merely a civilian broadcast station, the music an entertainment medium.
She turned her attention then, to discovering what, or who, had created such a wonder.
++++++
Kevin stared at the airplane. It looked fresh, but old.
“War surplus, picked her up for a song when she was gonna be dumped out in a desert!” Wabbits cousin was a skinny boy, barely out of his teens, but with the quick and sure motions of an expert when he touched his beloved machine. “I heard you guys playing last night, gotta say, it changed my mind about black folks. Always thought to myself, to each their own right? And the laws are that way too, it made sense, but man, the way you sang, how the band played, I wanted to meet you, to say, you got me to see more. Like how the world looks from way up high, we’re all just one piece of something, right? And I think the world might be less ugly that way. So, I said to my cousin, man, I want to help out, my folks left me a pile of cash, I have my baby here, and if you want, I’ll take you where you gotta go.”
He stopped, looking at the ground, and although Kevin was tempted to accept the offer on the spot, but the kid was offering to sideline everything to ferry around his ass?
“Well, damn, listen man, thanks, and I’m grateful you’re giving us a ride to Jacksonville, but lets take it easy right? See how you feel after the flight and if you want to come to the show, sure, I’ll get you in. I can’t pay for regular flights though, I’m already paying for my car! Besides, as much as I need to get down there and make sure everythings golden, I can’t go leaving my band behind every time!”
“Oh, right, no it’s cool, if they want a ride too its all good. I want to make a change, and helping you out helps me do that, right? If you want to talk money, heck, I could bankroll a few shows, take a percentage in return, but its not about the money. Man you changed me, in a good way. I think you could do the same for people like me! You, uh. I stopped hating, you know? Feels good.”
Kevin started to wonder if he shouldn’t have just curled back up on his car bench and stayed asleep. “Okay, I’m on board, if you want to take the rest of my guys too, that’s great, we all get to our next stop on time, you get a show, and if you still want to help us out, we can look at more shows after the tour. Sound fair?”
They shook hands. Pete, as he turned out to be named, started fussing with his airplane again, and removing what he termed ‘junk’ from the hold and other parts of the craft, which to Kevins untrained eye all looked vaguely important, but were ‘heavy’.
He boarded with his band, and Wabbit, who had his own guitar with him, and as the airplane started taxying, amidst the reefer smoke, and snippets of song Wabbit was working on, they settled down for the flight.
++++++
DSX862-QQ1’s commander was hampered in her efforts to locate the origin of the music she had heard by the lack of any real information link between radio and physical locations. There was undoubtably ground-based cable she couldn’t tap, but there was no evidence of a wide area data network, and given the technology of the ‘Humans’ she wasn’t surprised.
Just frustrated.
Nonetheless, she was able to identify the singer, and his ‘band’ who played the instruments that had so perfectly twinned with his voice. She wondered how a purely non-verbal species would have received his music. Would they have felt what she felt just through the radio signal? Something she would learn, in time. Her plan was simple, she’d locate her subject, and deploy a drone to follow him. Wherever he played, her drone would invisibly follow, recording his music in perfect fidelity.
She’d return home, and share his music. Something no-one had heard before, had never experienced, and perhaps, it would make them see, and feel, what she had when hearing it.
The ship pinged, it had located a small heavier than air craft that had a high probability of carrying her quarry. It was moving at less than a third of the local speed of sound, but was being strangely buffeted. The computer flashed warning symbols on sections of the craft. Simple, but not primitive, the craft was perfectly designed for the task it was meant to perform, very good engineering had gone into creating it.
Yet it was failing, structurally, air pressures flowing over it far in excess for which it had been designed, one of this worlds unique weather phenomenon threatening to rip it apart.
Amidst the horror of realizing she was about to witness the death of those individuals who had touched her very soul, she recognized the craft was operating in excess of two hundred percent its designed stress ratings.
It was a toughness that bought a few seconds of thought. Of decision, and rash, perhaps illegal, action.
Digits brushed controls, summoning a hum from the depths of her ship. The fuel capture system was not meant for rescue, in fact, using for anything other than non-living mass was considered a breach of several laws. First and foremost, it was a very focusable disintegration array, making it a terrifying weapon. Secondly, it could collect the energy released by the disintegration and funnel it into storage cells to fuel the engines.
Thirdly, and this was the illegal part, her scoutships sensors could record exactly how the disintegrated matter had been arranged, down to the subatomic level, and the array could be reprogrammed to then reverse the process to convert the captured energy back into the original thing.
Used on an interesting rock, this was fine. On a living being it was murder at best and non-consensual cloning at worst.
Her digit pressed down firmly on the energize symbol that appeared below her hacked override code.
++++++
The aircraft finally surrendered to the windsheer pulling at it, fragmenting in a shimmering cloud of metallic fragments that erupt in a fireball as unspent aviation fuel is ignited.
Of the passengers and pilot, no trace was ever found, their deaths mourned by millions, in part for the loss of young people who had given the world such wonderful music, but also the sense of loss at the music they would now never be able to play. A pilot who had changed his beliefs and committed himself to promoting the ones who changed him for the better, a brilliant young singer and songwriter, and a band who could touch souls, lost forever.
The great changes they had been about to unleash would not take place. Or at least, not take place as quickly. The seeds had been planted, as other young people took up their instruments, raised their voices in song, and set out to change hearts and minds their own way.
Over the course of the centuries before Humanity could reach the stars as a single family, a steady stream of visitors dropped by the musical ball of rock. To observe, to listen, to rescue, when the opportunity arose.

About this item:
VEHICLE APPLICATIONS: HONDA ACCORD; 2006-2015 HONDA CIVIC; 2012-2015 HONDA CROSSTOUR; 2007-2016 HONDA CR-V; 2005-2017 HONDA ODYSSEY; 2019-2022 HONDA PASSPORT; 2009-2022 HONDA PILOT; 2006-2014,2017-2022 HONDA RIDGELINE

1. VEHICLE APPICATIONS CONT: 2007-2011 ACURA CSX; 2013-2022 ACURA ILX; 2007-2020 ACURA MDX; 2007-2018 ACURA RDX; 2005-2012 ACURA RL; 2014-2020 ACURA RLX; 2004-2014 ACURA TL; 2015-2020 ACURA TLX; 2004-2014 ACURA TSX; 2010-2013 ACURA ZDX; 2003-2022
2. FILTER CROSS REFERENCES: BOSCH P3875WS; Honda (80219-SHJ-A01, 80292-SDA-407, 80292-SDA-A01); K&N VF2001; Purolator C35519
3. EASY INSTALL: This cabin air filter is located behind the glove box and on average will only take 15 minutes to replace the old filter with a new filter
4. FRAM Fresh Breeze cabin air filters are the only cabin filter built with Arm & Hammer baking soda combined with carbon embedded in the filter helping to take out and odors that enter your vehicle through the ventilation system

Buy Best Discounted Offer: https://amzn.to/3C2rRrS

Finding a 4th gen cabin air filter is a mission. Went to 3 different stores and all need to order and theres only 1-2 brands that have them. I know mazda isnt the most popular brand in North America but damn. Ended up getting the STP air filter from autozone over OEM i assume it’s basically the same (CAF15049P). Was hopping for any charcoal ones but had to settle to just finding a replacement.

I have the 2013 Chevy Impala LT that I got used from my Uncle. I put in a new Purolator engine air filter yesterday. When I was doing it I noticed the airbox looks different than in most of the videos online. There's an extra tube on the side going to it. And inside the box there's some kind of pre filter with oil on it. The pre filter says it's not serviceable.
The airbox looks like this one: https://www.trucksandauto.com/auctions/19177/lot/152545104-2013-Chevrolet-Impala--LT
Compared to this one: https://www.carcarekiosk.com/video/2013_Chevrolet_Impala_LT_3.6L_V6_FlexFuel/air_filter_engine/replace

MSRP - $29k. Aftermarkets are Exterior Protection Premier $1100 and XPEL Window Tint $395
Package would include Honda's "3 for all" no charge Maintenance plan:

• up to 4 oil changes
• 2 tire rotations
• engine air and cabin air filter replacement
• cvt transmission fluid service
  • and any other services recommended by Honda.
• Unlimited express car wash

I have a 2020 TLX (Tech pkg) @ 46K miles valued at $25k by several third-party sites (Carvana, etc). Dealership is valuing the vehicle at $23,500 if used for HR-V EX-L trade listed in the subject line.
Thoughts?
Edit: $18.5k left on the TLX

First Prev
>>Lassus System, Orbit of Lasu, Lassus Station, Early 2670
>Corporal Strider, Jace C. 4th ODR Battalion, Raptor Company, Squad Four
Strider and the rest of Raptor Squad had found themselves in the central engineering chamber, as directed by the digital way-point set on their helmet's heads-up display.
The number of corpses had lessened, and they were free from those sights, at least for the moment, but were now presented with the engineering department of the station. If not for their built-in night vision, then their portion of the station would be pitch black.
Some of the doors they came across had to be torched and breached with smaller controlled explosions with the use of a thermite door breaching charge. By now, they had used their final charge on the door to the central power core room.
"Strider, radio in, we're turning on the station," ordered his sergeant.
"Copy," Strider replied, prepping his comms pack, "Command! This is Raptor 4-4! Do you copy?! We found the power core, booting up now!"
As one of the lower enlisted began the sequence, Strider heard over his radio to essentially abort, but the station had already run its sequence, and the lights in the room illuminated their visors, almost blinding them.
"Turn off your NVs!" ordered the sergeant.
With a press of a button, they manually turned off their enhanced night vision and were now met with fluorescent lighting, which felt almost dizzying to him and some of his compatriots.
"Always hated this light, to think they use it too," commented a nearby corporal, their name 'Castor' spelled out on his armor just above his mid-chest.
"You said it, shit gets on my nerves," Strider replied, "Couldn't they have used something more...natural?"
Strider was referring to the lights aboard TRSC vessels that used light in between incandescent and fluorescent. However, light usage was much more diversified on ships in the modern day and this went for many of the living areas aboard ships that used mostly warm light while hallways and office spaces used cool light.
"The TRSC still use the same light, man," the opposing corporal responded to Strider, "But I agree. It would be nice if we got better light."
As the two conversed, the squad received an ominous message that felt like it came from within their heads.
>>//I=4m+yOur=ph4nt0M?=y0uR_Sw0rd?
"What the hell was that?! It sounded like it was in my head." One of the raiders said. His transmission was filled with static, but was still clear compared to the message they had just received.
"Minerva, what was it?" came over the radio from the Admiral.
"Unknown. It did come, undoubtedly, from the station. I urge the raiders to expedite their process to the intelligence archives before whatever it was we woke up swarms them."
"You heard her boys! Get that intel, then we can blow that station into the planet," the Admiral said with haste and his squad responded with a resounding 'Aye Sir!'
With the systems now running, they were given a new way-point that led to a door opposite where they had entered. They tried to open it, but to no avail.
"Castor, breach it!" ordered their sergeant.
"Out of charges, gotta do it manually," he replied, bringing out a manual breach torch.
"Do it!" Castor nodded and began to work with another working the other half of the door.
The room was situated with only two entries, their original and another across from it. Situated in the center was the main core operating system in the heart of the station. There existed a series of pipes that extended from the core's computer, which they used for cover and supported aim.
"Minerva, do we have an idea of the hostile contact?" Strider called to the AI.
"They are mechanical in nature, presumably the automated workforce that inhabited the station. I would assume them to be extremely hostile..."
"Noted," he replied, reiterating the information to the squad. The squad's communications operator oversaw a direct line to higher command, but orders from an AI are usually disseminated to the squad simultaneously, but to ensure no confusion, a verbal reiteration was needed. This was mainly because personnel comms had a habit of not transmitting over a wider band.
As they aimed toward their last entrance, they noted small red dots on the bottom of their HUD. The distance set was 25 meters for the radius, revealing how close the enemy was.
From the entrance, it was a linear hallway that took a sharp left turn from their perspective and as the dot rounded a corner, they saw it.
It was a robot that looked similar in height to a Sellian but had lanky arms that dropped to his knee joint with what looked to be a captain's hat placed atop it at a crooked angle. It had a painted expression on its once black exterior in the form of eyes and a smile colored with dried Sellian blood. In its right hand, it held a pointed object that shined from the light above it and stood still.
They noticed on their mini-map that the dots ceased their movement with the revelation of the autonomous bot.
"I don't know what the fuck that thing is, but it ain't right," one of the raiders said, training his sight on the dome of the imitation.
Agreement sounded from those around him when a sharp mechanical screech sounded from the creature. It pointed its weapon at the squad and the dots that ceased now began to move, more rapidly and rounded the corner with a quick paste unlike before.
The robots that revealed themselves were similar to the one in the hat, and many had tools fashioned for combat that shared the same discoloration upon the one from before, dried green Sellian blood.
The squad then began firing into the crowd of advancing murder bots. They went down easy, but their HUD showed a steady stream flowing into the corridor. To conserve ammo, two of the Raiders maintained suppressive fire into the corridor with a belt-fed squad automatic weapon, the K-Tac M506 SAW.
"Castor! How long until that door is open?!" demanded the sergeant.
"Almost got it!" he said and with a thud, the melted portions fell back on themselves, "It's open!"
With their new access, raiders began filtering through to the next area, covering those in the rear with continuous fire as the robots consumed the hallway. Bodies of the hostiles filled most of the corridor, making it difficult for their traversal, subsequently making them stumble among their fallen comrades.
"Raptor," Minerva said, "I have managed to gain access to doors, but access to larger systems is still beyond my command. I have found a likely possibility for the source of the murderous automatons."
"Where to?" responded Strider as the group moved forward, taking down a straggler of the same robot they previously fired upon.
"I am detecting a large electrical signature, not native to the station and separate from the core within the station's central archive intelligence department. You will most likely find your culprit there."
"Much obliged," he said, informing his sergeant, "Got us a way-point? With the least resistance if possible."
Another door opened, and several shots rang out, this time against two larger robots in similar form to the smaller ones.
"They're starting to get big, Minerva!"
A Brief Silence followed before the way-point on their HUD was updated.
"Thanks!"
"Of Course, Corporal"
Raptor Squad proceeded on their new route, encountering less than before. They were consistently being followed, so to prevent them from catching up, Castor was responsible for the sealing of the doors, which he did by disabling the access panel beside the doors to prevent electrical or manual operation.
He and his partner quickly added a weld at key joints for the doors before leaving to meet with the rest of the group.
"Raptor Squad," Minerva spoke out, "You are close to the intelligence archives. I am detecting multiple signatures in the chamber. Exercise caution."
"Roger," said the sergeant, "Let's go, Raptors! Double time!"
Strider followed in the center of the group as they made their way to the archive room. From what he could recall, most of the enemy was behind them being held back by the shoddily welded doors, but they soon began to hear loud banging that echoed throughout the halls.
Noticing the implication, they followed their route with haste, taking down several small lone robots as seen before. Occasionally, they would encounter a larger cluster, but a well-placed grenade made short work of the enemy.
As the point man rounded a corner, a shot rang out, landing its mark on his chest. A short yell was sounded, and the Raider fell on his back, now motionless.
"Dammit! They hit Ollie!" shouted the raider closest to him as he raised his left fist at a ninety-degree angle signifying the rest of the group to halt, "Ollie! You hear me!?"
Silence followed, raising the Raider's temperament to a higher level.
"Strider!" called the Sergeant, "Do we have air support yet? We'll need it when we get out of here!"
"Wait one!" replied Strider as shots from the Raiders now began their exchange with an enemy just down the hall, "Command! Raptor! How are we on air support!?"
"Troop transport is inbound and circling. Fighter support is available when you are clear with the intel."
"Copy!" he turned to the Sergeant, "We got it, but we need the intel first before they can support us!"
He nodded and gave orders to the idle Raiders.
"Split up, fire team alpha; stay here and prepare for a push. Fire team bravo, take the flank. There's a maintenance tunnel that runs on the sides that run along the side of the interior. That'll be your entry point! Go now!"
Raptors eight through twelve did as ordered and went back the way they came before taking a left. Several shots rang out, but Strider noticed all five were still together on his mini-map before ultimately traveling beyond his sensors.
"Allow me to assists," Minerva added, "I have managed to manipulate surface-level sensors. Your advance should be masked from the enemy for the moment, but it won't be long before they regain control of their systems."
"Understood," Strider relayed the new information, and the Raiders began their assault into the room.
After exchanging shots, another Raider was successful in bringing to cover, Ollie, and began field triage. He took a shot of a kinetic round that embedded itself mid-way through the up-armored chest plate. The round was moderately large, and the corpsman took out a medical device that could take a close - up x-ray scan of the patient, adding to his diagnostic.
As he did so, he returned to the sergeant with his analysis.
"Took a large kinetic round to his upper chest, he has a pulse, but it's weak. Hit him hard enough to knock him out..."
He pulled the bullet out, and it was mushroomed with a thin central canal within the mushroomed pattern. He shook his head and began treating the downed patient, "an Armor-Piercing round, steel core got lodged in his scapula. He has to get off this station!"
The sergeant, who stayed with fire team alpha, furrowed his eyes in frustration, "Strider, get a med evac. We've got a casualty. Hi-Pri!"
He nodded in response and updated command on their request. It was met with affirmation, but he was issued to first complete their initial objective.
"You have your orders. Secure the intel first and you’ll have your ride."
Strider tried to negotiate with a more expedition evac, but he was met with the same response.
"Sergeant! Intel comes first, then we get our evac..."
"Dammit!" he replied, anger infused with every pronunciation, "Bravo!? you ready?!"
A call of affirmation came through the comms and the assault was a go.
"Move it, Alpha!"
The point man swapped with a man behind him that wielded a squad automatic weapon and let pass a wall of lead that mangled and tore any within direct site of the hallway. Similarly, from within the chamber, a controlled explosion erupted from the right wall that threw shrapnel into the nearby automatons.
They deftly exited their abrupt entrance and sent well-placed shots into the barely working droids. Those that survived were scattered behind cover in the corners of the room and after the initial assault. They left their cover and tried to fire into their enemy but were met with perfectly executed return fire that promptly ended them, ensuring Terran control.
"Clear!"
"All Clear!"
"Clear here!"
Responses were sounded from the Raiders as they swept the room from door to door.
"Secure those hatches and prepare to extract the data. Strider, that's you!"
The other Raiders secured their entrances and began marking them with large amounts of X4 explosive, while Strider began diving into the Sellian computer systems. By fastening similar cables to a modified cabal adapter, he was successful in creating a link to properly communicate with their systems from his personal data pad.
The cable used was a newly fashioned universal cable designed to integrate seamlessly into their systems shortly after integration from Chief Commander Yorla's fleet. Granted, it was done without their knowledge.
With an update headed by Minerva herself, he was able to read, translate and download all data from the central archives' computer.
As he was nearing completion, he was notified of a presence behind him. It was his Sergeant.
"How's it coming along?"
"Steady. We're gathering a lot, but at this rate, those bots will be on us in no time..."
The Sergeant returned to his post and let Strider continue his work. In terms of tech literacy, Strider was competent in what he needed to do, and this task was no different.
"68...71...73..." he whispered to himself as he monitored the download status, "Lookin' good..."
As the status percentage reached '92%', it stalled, for an unusual amount of time...
"What the hell..." he said to himself again, this time re-checking the hard connection he adapted, questioning whether he applied them correctly. When is minor investigation yielded no further results, the screen morphed into a series of unknown symbols and a display that resembled a frozen screen that had glitched itself into a dreaded blue error screen.
[>>C3ase_y0uR_atk!!=_1nVad3r.!..
"Minerva!" he called out, "We got an issue!"
He connected a second display to the first, and it worked as a back-up troubleshooting display.
"I am aware, Corporal. I have preloaded your data pad with a countermeasure."
"What kind of countermeasure?" he reiterated.
"A digital combat malware for our guest. I do apologize for the previous device," she said as Strider looked to the first pad in question. It was visually smoking from overheating components. By rerouting the remaining data to the second pad, he was able to finish the download and recovered the data from the first by extracting a removable drive. He plugged in the external drive and found that with the previous 92% and the remaining 8% downloaded onto the second, their mission with a success.
"Thanks, get us the quickest route out of here, we have wounded," he said, packing his device into a secure pouch.
As he got up, pounding was heard from their initial entrance and shots were now heard from their improvised entrance.
"Bogies in the maintenance tunnels! Frag 'em!" ordered one Raider that led the Bravo fire team that let loose a grenade followed by a couple more. The shock wave of the explosion was felt at the center console as Strider readied his rifle.
He checked his magazines and saw he was still sufficient with ammo, unlike some of his brothers.
As the fighting intensified, the doors were cracked open, letting through only a couple of bots at a time. His squad fired into the enemy that broke through, as well as firing into the newly made crevice by the automated enemy.
"I thought we took what was controlling them!" stated one Raider as he threw a grenade into the cracked entrance, hitting a peeking bot before blowing it and others around it into nothing, "Shouldn't they be shut down!?"
Strider felt the same way. Their data collection was anti-climactic, and the supposed tussle with the enemy program lasted for less than only a minute.
Before he could wonder any more about the subject, an update was issued on their HUD, leading to the poorly manned door they left to only one other Raider.
"The route you need for extraction is through those doors. Continued straight until told otherwise."
Strider acknowledged, as did his Sergeant, and he began routing troops to their extract. The indicators on their mini-maps proved that they had sparse enemy combatants, at least those that moved, and they opened the door. They fired their shots into the clueless bots that barely had time to direct their attention to their invaders before being dispatched.
As Minerva said, they continued straight until a new way-point was displayed to change their route. Now, with their casualty base growing little by little, their overall speed had slowed. Some limped as they received rounds to their legs in the soft armor of their under suit from enemy AP rounds.
"This ain't looking good, Minerva," Strider stated as he glided as the pace of the wounded, "How much further?"
"Not much longer, Corporal. I will advise, however, to seal any suit punctures with a temporary vacuum seal component."
"Noted," he replied curtly as they entered a final door.
Past the door, they were met with the blackness of the void, but now the sun illuminated the space, revealing the same gruesome scenes of violently expired Sellians.
A way-point led to their next entrance, which led to the thin array of the port docking tubes reserved for the larger ships. From where they stood, a ship was seen docked at the end of their tube.
It was a sleek looking ship that had a wide cross-section, but its profile was slim. It was a large-sized ship that could be manned by a singular pilot or manned by a crew of six.
The ship itself was a Galaxy-Class Cutter that was outfitted with a series of medical bays that each offered spots for varying degrees of injuries sustained. It had its own series of weapons for self-defense but served well within areas of operation where they had air superiority.
Strider then turned to the group and told them of their vacuum seal component and to check all for punctures in their suits.
It was a spray that was applied to the external portions of their under suit and created a temporary seal from space, and served as a crucial tool in any space-farer's box.
As they entered the docking tube, a call from a Raider in the rear notified the group of a mass of bots emerging from the sides of the station along the main roads.
"Move!" Ordered their Sergeant.
Already fatigued and gasping for air, the Raiders complied and pushed themselves beyond, especially now with their extraction so close.
The Raiders covered the rear as they descended further into the tube, and the bodies of automated bots that littered the entrance began to clog it.
Those that made their way closer to their exit provided cover for those in the rear, as some of the enemy would make it past the debris and charge their position. Very few carried fire arms and now there were mostly droids with shoddily made melee weapons that attempted to charge, each meeting the same fate.
They secured the entrance and the wounded were filed in followed by the main body, then the rear guard. Strider and Castor were now the last in the squad to secure the rear when they were met with a singular bot that stood not far from their position.
"What the hell..." Castor sounded out.
It was the same bot that wore a bloodied captain's hat with a face painted on its exterior from the blood of Sellians. It was unarmed, which caught both Raiders off guard. As Castor and Strider raised their weapons to shoot, it raised its hands in a motion of surrender as it moved slowly towards them.
"Get the FUCK back!" Commanded Castor to no avail. He fired a shot into its waist strut, causing it to collapse on its backside.
Strider was about to deliver the final blow when it pulled an item from behind its head. It was cylindrical with a silver tube that matched the size of its small metal hands with a red button at the top.
Sudden realization hit and both Strider and Castor fired into the bot but in the split second of their pull of the trigger, a flash of light erupted from the robot, engulfing the tube in a concussive blast that tore it from its structure, hurdling Castor and Strider around in the tube and eventually, into space.
Strider soon regain consciousness but woke to the cries of his squad mate, Castor, and to the gun fire of the slowly retreating cutter ship. Large objects flew around it that fired down on the ship. The fighter escorts were now firing at the new enemy, and soon their silhouettes vanished beyond the void.
"G-get the fuck back!"
Strider struggled to orient himself as his suit was not equipped for EVA, but eventually traced a line of silver and gray that reflected the sun to the cry in question.
He noticed sparks of light near the tip of an ever extending spire towards the way-point of his comrade.
Again, cries of desperation filled his comms as he activated his helmet's zoom-in function toward Castor. From his distance, he was able to make out his figure as well as those extending towards him.
"Get off me, you bastards!!"
Several flashes of light followed, and the destruction of a nearby robot shattered away into the void in all directions.
The spire consisted of the murderous bots attaching to one another towards their prey like a fungus. He called for emergency pick-up and tried to get Castor's attention when he felt a pressure on his ankle.
When he looked down, he was met with a similarly painted face as the droid that blew up their tunnel, with a dried green wastefully painted on its facial exterior.
Fear grabbed him, and Strider by instinct reached for his handgun and fired several shots into the face of the bot.
He looked at Castor, and they had grasped him in their metal claws and began tearing away at his armor as he screamed.
"G-get the FUCK...OFF ME!" He thrashed at the enemy.
His weapons drifted from their sling with spent magazines that orbited with him as he used every bit of his tool set to waste on the enemy. He fired into them with his pistol, and after it was empty, he readily switched to a knife that was situated on his lower back. The debris of the robot menace grew, but so did their advance.
Strider turned to his own group now and fired well-placed shots into the oncoming horde. Their advance was quick and unexpected and gave both little room to breathe.
No more than several minutes had passed, and help still had not come. He grew anxious, and this was helped by his increasingly fatigued comrade.
Soon, his savage thrashing had come to an end and the horde he had kept away quickly overtook him when a call came through to Strider.
"I can't do this, Jace..."
"I'm sure help is on it's way. Just, hang on!" Strider fired into several more droids before reloading and turned his attention back to Castor, who was now swarmed with automated menace.
"I ain't going out by the hands of some bots..."
"Wait-"
Before Strider could start his sentence, a flash of light took the place of Castor and all mater of materials scattered into the void, striking Strider and his own bots just moments after the explosion. A piece found its way onto his helmet, that jolted him with a headache. He quickly applied the last of his vacuum seal to the areas likely hit before throwing the empty canister at the encroaching enemy.
He fired some more rounds into the growing crowd, as well as some unused grenades, saving one for himself.
"C'mon you bastards! What?! You afraid to die?" Strider pulled his knife and kept the grenade in his offhand.
He motioned for them to approach with an antagonizing gesture, "Let's tango, you soulless abominations!"
They advanced to his provocation and he fought.
Instead of letting them have the pleasure of holding him, he decided to wrangle them first, using their mechanical bodies for leverage as he swiped, stabbed, punctured and yanked as loose cables, all in an effort to take as many he can, hoping for help to arrive.
Seconds that felt like minutes had passed and Strider was fatigued. His breathing was haggard and it felt heavy. He thought to himself the amount of time he spent in vacuum these last several moments and deemed that he must be reaching his max operating time. He was granted thirty minutes, but with his fight for survival, he greatly reduced it to several minutes. It was only a matter of time.
His eyes grew heavy, and his vision began to blur.
'Huh, so this is how I die? Real damn shame...' he thought to himself.
As his eyes closed, he let it take him and released himself to an eternal slumber, letting go of a primed grenade that drifted towards a fated enemy.
--------------------E N D--------------------
>Enemy_Short_Range_Jammer: NEUTRALIZED
>Beacon_Isolated...
>Primary_Field_Objective_Issued_CRITICAL_PRIORITY: RETRIEVE_DATA_DRIVES/CPL_STRIDER
>Issuing_Secondary_Field_Objective: NEUTRALIZE_ENEMY_DRONES
>Enemy_Matrix_Analysis: %77.7758...
>Matrix_Analysis_Requires_CAPTURED_DATA
>Friendly_HUD(s): UPDATED
...
...
...
>Secondary_Objective: COMPLETE
>Primary_Objective: IN_PROGRESS
First Prev