Bonjour à tous, ce message est un modeste témoignage (contenant parfois ma modeste opinion) afin d'apporter une vision, et de casser (ou confirmer) l'idéal que certains se font (dans mon entourage ou ce que je lis sur Reddit).
Mon travail : Je suis ingénieur en cybersécurité et je conseille et coordonne environ 50 architectes dans l'entreprise dans laquelle je travaille. J'ai fait une école d'ingénieur modeste (pas dans le top 50 des écoles françaises), et j'ai commencé comme beaucoup d'ingénieurs : en entreprise de prestation avec un salaire à l'époque (2015) de 32K€. J'ai donc aujourd'hui 9 ans d'expérience. Ce travail est plutôt stressant (se faire challenger régulièrement par 50 personnes, c'est usant), il y a beaucoup de pression et tout doit être fait dans l'urgence, ce qui demande aussi une grande flexibilité au niveau des horaires (parfois des réunions à 7h avec l'Asie, parfois à 20h avec les États-Unis). Je ne dirais pas que c'est un travail pénible, mais avec beaucoup de charge mentale, ce qui à la longue fatigue.
Mon salaire : Alors 100K€ par an, j'entends parfois "Ouah, tu gagnes 5 fois le SMIC, ça fait genre 7000€ net par mois"... Alors... pas du tout :D Déjà, sur les 100K, il y a : 70K€ fixes + 10K de prime fixe (entre 10 et 12 plus précisément selon les indices de performance) + 5K d'intéressement + 15K sous forme d'actions (déblocables au bout de 5 ans). Donc mensuellement ça fait environ ~5800 brut et au final net après impôts 3.800€ net (donc loin des 7000€ nets mensuels). En fait, les 30K qui sont versés non pas mensuellement mais via prime + actions, je vois ça comme un salaire placé, c'est-à-dire du patrimoine (et donc pas de l'argent déblocable comme on veut).
Le quotidien : Eh bien la vie quotidienne est impactée surtout par les 3.800€ et non pas le reste (qui est placé). Sachant que j'ai une femme qui travaille et un enfant, je dirais que la vie est confortable mais ce n'est pas la vie de château non plus comme certains pensent. Clairement, on fait les courses sans regarder la facture, on n'est jamais dans le rouge, on n'est pas dans le stress que beaucoup (malheureusement) peuvent avoir et c'est à mes yeux ce qui est le mieux : une bonne qualité de vie. Toutefois (et je m'attends à me faire pourrir sur ce point :D), je ne me considère pas comme riche.
Pourquoi je ne me considère pas comme "riche" ? Premièrement, parce que je n'ai pas de patrimoine. C'est-à-dire que je suis très dépendant de mon boulot pour mes revenus. Je précise que mes parents sont modestes et ne sont clairement pas une source de patrimoine ou autre. Deuxièmement, parce que je suis un salarié et donc un travailleur. J'ai un contrat à 39h, je me lève tous les matins pour bosser, je fais mes courses, je m'occupe de mon enfant, etc... J'ai le rythme de vie classique du travailleur. À mes yeux, les riches ont un patrimoine de départ qui leur permet de ne pas travailler et de vivre sur leurs capitaux, ce que je suis très loin d'avoir (même si ma situation me permet de créer un petit patrimoine). Clairement avec mes revenus, je n'ai pas les moyens d'avoir une maison de campagne, je n'ai pas les moyens de prendre l'avion en classe premium ou de me loger dans un 5 étoiles je ne sais où, je n'ai pas de voiture de luxe (ça c'est le matériel), je n'ai pas la liberté de mon temps (travail/congés comme tout le monde), je n'ai pas de personnel, etc... Alors, je ne me plains pas ! (personnellement, le matérialisme ce n'est pas mon objectif de vie), mais beaucoup de personnes s'imaginent (et c'est le cas dans mon entourage) qu'avec ce salaire, j'ai genre une maison de vacances avec un bateau et tout... Clairement, je ne peux pas me le permettre (et entre nous, je m'en fous aussi pas mal).
Autre point : Avec ce salaire, je n'ai droit à aucune aide. Alors certes, certains me diront "oui mais avec ton salaire..." Sauf qu'entre mon super-brut et mon net au final, en plus d'être fortement taxé, je dois tout payer au prix fort (prix de la crèche au max, pas d'aide pour rénovation énergétique, 0 pour mon enfant que ce soit à la naissance ou ensuite, etc.)... Encore une fois, je ne me plains pas, mais juste que ceux qui pensent que c'est la vie de château, ben non, car on est vraiment tiré par le bas par les taxes.
Et évidement, je précise qu'on est riche ou pas par rapport à quelque chose. Je parle de riche par rapport aux français (parce que comparé à une personne moyenne vivant au Soudan, ouai je me considère immensément riche).
En résumé : Pour moi, j'ai le sentiment d'être entre la classe moyenne et la classe riche, c'est-à-dire une vie plus confortable que la moyenne des travailleurs, sans pour autant avoir une vie d'excès. Je pense que beaucoup de personnes ont une fausse idée de ce qu'est la vie d'un cadre supérieur et idéalisent son quotidien et sa vie. La frustration de la classe moyenne française est pour moi parfaitement justifiée, mais je ne crois pas que son ennemi soit la classe juste au-dessus (cadre supérieur, petit patron d'une petite entreprise, etc.).
Voilà, peut-être que ce petit témoignage vous apporte quelque chose. Ou alors pas du tout :D

So I am new to vision and photon vision and Ive installed the most recent image for the raspberry pi. When I run it, it asks for the login and in the documentation, it says that this is normal so I went to http://photonvision.local:5800/ but it produces this error:

This site can’t be reached

Check if there is a typo in photonvision.local.

• If spelling is correct, try running Windows Network Diagnostics.

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN
I'm now attempting to run "hostname -I" but how do I run the command while the raspberry pi is still asking for my login? Any help is much appreciated

Vancouver, British Columbia TheNewswire - February 16, 2024 - Integrated Cyber Solutions Inc . (CSE:ICS) (FSE:Y4G) ("Integrated Cyber" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the listing of its common shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange ("FSE") under the symbol "Y4G". This strategic move marks a significant milestone in the Company's expansion into the European market, thus solidifying its commitment to broadening its global capital markets footprint. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is a European listing venue, responsible for brokering approximately 90 percent of all securities traded in Germany. The decision to list on the FSE is driven by the Company's dedication to enhance accessibility and investment opportunities to international investors. "We are extremely excited about Integrated Cyber's entry into the European capital markets through our listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany's premier stock exchange. This marks a significant milestone in our journey, providing a gateway to new European investors and enhancing our trading capabilities within Europe," stated Alan Guibord, CEO of Integrated Cyber. "Listing on the FSE is a strategic move in our global capital markets strategy. It not only increases our liquidity but also significantly boosts our visibility on a global scale. This is an opportunity for Integrated Cyber to connect with European investors and share our story, vision, and the advanced cybersecurity solutions we bring to the market." Integrated Cyber Engages Multiple Organizations To Enhance Investor Outreach Integrated Cyber is pleased to announce a strategic communications initiative designed to foster continuous investor communications and outreach to new and existing investors. In a concerted effort to enhance transparency and engagement, the Company has entered into partnerships with several arm's length organizations with specialized expertise in financial media, investor relations, public relations and social media engagement. All contract amounts are denoted in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated. First Phase Capital : Engaged for a two-month campaign, committed to $10,000 in aggregate engagement for social media services. First Phase Capital specializes in attracting new accredited and retail investors through an approach that implements targeted, data-driven campaigns monitored through custom dashboards and real-time metrics. The group's process leverages various digital channels such as social media, search engines, email campaigns and online advertising to attract the interest of individuals or institutions most likely to invest in the client company. Contact First Phase Capital 2110 – 650 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC V6B 4N8 Phone: 778-990-5800 Email: darin@firstphasecapital.com Guerilla Capital : Engaged for a term of six months, at a total compensation of $100,000 for the duration of the term. Guerilla Capital utilizes dynamic, high impact and high volume messaging across over 50+ investing groups and social media domains to target active investors daily. The group facilitates content creation, employing innovative marketing strategies and newsletter services to maximize brand visibility and engagement. Contact Guerilla Capital 84 Watson Lane Dundas, Ontario L9H 1T3 Phone: 416-832-1874 Email: ryan@guerillacapital.io Investing News Network : Engaged for a term of six months, at a total compensation of $117,000 for the duration of the term. The Investing News Network (INN) publishes InvestingNews.com as a destination web site for the international investment community. The group has offices in Canada, USA, and Australia to provide trusted and independent coverage of markets across the globe. For investors who are comfortable taking the next step, INN offers the opportunity to connect with trusted companies providing investment opportunities. Contact Investing News Network 736 Granville Street, Suite 1200 Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1E4 Phone: 604-688-8231 Email: csmith@investingnews.com Sagacity Capital Media Inc.: Engaged for a term of six months, at a total compensation of $27,000 for the duration of the term. Sagacity prioritizes crafting compelling content and strategically distributing it, ensuring widespread reach and engagement. Simultaneously, its initiatives focus on enhancing market awareness through educational campaigns. These combined efforts contribute to a comprehensive approach, fostering brand visibility and education. Contact Sagacity Capital Media Inc. Toronto, Ontario Phone: 647-219-1125 Email: bcolwell@sagacitycapitalmedia.com White Rabbit Projects Pte. Ltd. : Engaged for a term of six months, at a total compensation of US$110,000 for the duration of the term, plus flexible spending. White Rabbit Projects excels in delivering communications and capital markets services with a core focus on narrative building. The group employs strategic expertise to craft compelling storylines that resonate in the capital markets landscape. With a commitment to excellence, the group empowers clients to enhance their communication strategies, fostering stronger connections and impactful market presence. Contact White Rabbit Projects Pte. Ltd. 9 Raffles Place #29-05 Republic Plaza Singapore, 048619 Phone: 778-895-7565 Email: info@whiterabbitprojects.co m About Integrated Cyber Solutions Integrated Cyber Solutions is a managed security service provider (MSSP) that humanizes cybersecurity managed services to the Small-to-Medium Business (SMB) and Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) sectors. The Company integrates capabilities from third-party cybersecurity providers, ensuring customers have access to the latest cybersecurity solutions. Apart from providing essential cybersecurity services, Integrated Cyber's managed services and IC360 technology platform consolidate vast amounts of information to generate actionable intelligence from the numerous software point solutions within their customer's environments. The results enable simple, understandable, and actionable insights to help customers comprehend and better secure their organization. Contact: Media Relations Team email: PR@Integrated-Cyber.com

Vancouver, British Columbia TheNewswire - February 16, 2024 - Integrated Cyber Solutions Inc . (CSE:ICS) (FSE:Y4G) ("Integrated Cyber" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the listing of its common shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange ("FSE") under the symbol "Y4G". This strategic move marks a significant milestone in the Company's expansion into the European market, thus solidifying its commitment to broadening its global capital markets footprint. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is a European listing venue, responsible for brokering approximately 90 percent of all securities traded in Germany. The decision to list on the FSE is driven by the Company's dedication to enhance accessibility and investment opportunities to international investors. "We are extremely excited about Integrated Cyber's entry into the European capital markets through our listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany's premier stock exchange. This marks a significant milestone in our journey, providing a gateway to new European investors and enhancing our trading capabilities within Europe," stated Alan Guibord, CEO of Integrated Cyber. "Listing on the FSE is a strategic move in our global capital markets strategy. It not only increases our liquidity but also significantly boosts our visibility on a global scale. This is an opportunity for Integrated Cyber to connect with European investors and share our story, vision, and the advanced cybersecurity solutions we bring to the market." Integrated Cyber Engages Multiple Organizations To Enhance Investor Outreach Integrated Cyber is pleased to announce a strategic communications initiative designed to foster continuous investor communications and outreach to new and existing investors. In a concerted effort to enhance transparency and engagement, the Company has entered into partnerships with several arm's length organizations with specialized expertise in financial media, investor relations, public relations and social media engagement. All contract amounts are denoted in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated. First Phase Capital : Engaged for a two-month campaign, committed to $10,000 in aggregate engagement for social media services. First Phase Capital specializes in attracting new accredited and retail investors through an approach that implements targeted, data-driven campaigns monitored through custom dashboards and real-time metrics. The group's process leverages various digital channels such as social media, search engines, email campaigns and online advertising to attract the interest of individuals or institutions most likely to invest in the client company. Contact First Phase Capital 2110 – 650 West Georgia Street Vancouver, BC V6B 4N8 Phone: 778-990-5800 Email: darin@firstphasecapital.com Guerilla Capital : Engaged for a term of six months, at a total compensation of $100,000 for the duration of the term. Guerilla Capital utilizes dynamic, high impact and high volume messaging across over 50+ investing groups and social media domains to target active investors daily. The group facilitates content creation, employing innovative marketing strategies and newsletter services to maximize brand visibility and engagement. Contact Guerilla Capital 84 Watson Lane Dundas, Ontario L9H 1T3 Phone: 416-832-1874 Email: ryan@guerillacapital.io Investing News Network : Engaged for a term of six months, at a total compensation of $117,000 for the duration of the term. The Investing News Network (INN) publishes InvestingNews.com as a destination web site for the international investment community. The group has offices in Canada, USA, and Australia to provide trusted and independent coverage of markets across the globe. For investors who are comfortable taking the next step, INN offers the opportunity to connect with trusted companies providing investment opportunities. Contact Investing News Network 736 Granville Street, Suite 1200 Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1E4 Phone: 604-688-8231 Email: csmith@investingnews.com Sagacity Capital Media Inc.: Engaged for a term of six months, at a total compensation of $27,000 for the duration of the term. Sagacity prioritizes crafting compelling content and strategically distributing it, ensuring widespread reach and engagement. Simultaneously, its initiatives focus on enhancing market awareness through educational campaigns. These combined efforts contribute to a comprehensive approach, fostering brand visibility and education. Contact Sagacity Capital Media Inc. Toronto, Ontario Phone: 647-219-1125 Email: bcolwell@sagacitycapitalmedia.com White Rabbit Projects Pte. Ltd. : Engaged for a term of six months, at a total compensation of US$110,000 for the duration of the term, plus flexible spending. White Rabbit Projects excels in delivering communications and capital markets services with a core focus on narrative building. The group employs strategic expertise to craft compelling storylines that resonate in the capital markets landscape. With a commitment to excellence, the group empowers clients to enhance their communication strategies, fostering stronger connections and impactful market presence. Contact White Rabbit Projects Pte. Ltd. 9 Raffles Place #29-05 Republic Plaza Singapore, 048619 Phone: 778-895-7565 Email: info@whiterabbitprojects.co m About Integrated Cyber Solutions Integrated Cyber Solutions is a managed security service provider (MSSP) that humanizes cybersecurity managed services to the Small-to-Medium Business (SMB) and Small-to-Medium Enterprise (SME) sectors. The Company integrates capabilities from third-party cybersecurity providers, ensuring customers have access to the latest cybersecurity solutions. Apart from providing essential cybersecurity services, Integrated Cyber's managed services and IC360 technology platform consolidate vast amounts of information to generate actionable intelligence from the numerous software point solutions within their customer's environments. The results enable simple, understandable, and actionable insights to help customers comprehend and better secure their organization. Contact: Media Relations Team email: PR@Integrated-Cyber.com

Royal Road here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/80877/nop-atalors-fate
Discord Tag: notafurrylad
So it's been a while huh? About four days. I haven't stopped writing, this chapter just took me a while because I wanted it to all fit in one go. It's the biggest chapter of the entire fic so far, about auhh- 5800 words?
So this is a bit experimental with me, I hope you enjoy it for what it is. I'm a little nervous at the reception, but we'll see.

First Last Next
Memory transcription subject: Meris, Cyonian Assembly StarNavy (CASN), Acting Commodore
Date [standardized human time]: February 12th, 2134
The CASN Bole had seen better nights. In fact, the entire armada had seen better nights. My wide visioned periphery gave me a perfect view of the teeth filled jaws that clamped down on the entire system. Our demise had been inevitable from the night the greys had struck. They’d made a game of making it slow, agonizingly slow.
Our fleet, fighting on its own ropes had been forced to watch as hundreds of Arxur ships bee-lined for our home and families. Too bogged down in fighting to break from the line and try to stop them. Those that could manage to break had caused them losses, but it hadn’t been enough. At first, the reports from the surface had been promising.
At least they weren’t saturating the surface with bombs right? At least the signals from the ground army, and our government had been ringing clear and true, they were putting up a fight. The painted picture had been clear: We needed to keep fighting for as long as we could, to set the Arxur back long enough for Federation ships to arrive, and our own task force out to Illis-03 to return. Once they detected all the FTL blockers and Arxur craft it’d be trivial to send messaging ships to get help from our allies. Right?
Yet, we’d seen no sign of either eventuality. Had the Illis-03 action force been destroyed too? Had our allies and the Federation not become suspicious of our extended leave of absence from the communication network? Four nights was a long time for a border system to go silent.
What rest anyone did get on the ship was when their shifts were over and they could be relieved to sleep. Then to only be up again to continue the constant fleet actions.
The readiness we’d maintained could only be given thanks in part to Atalor’s sibling Dwarf Planet, known to Cyonians as Enire’s Yard. So called because it was the name of the orbital ring built around it. The facility was as much a way station and logistics supply hub as it was a manufacturing station for new ships. A key infrastructure the Arxur had shown no interest in destroying, and because of that the lasers embedded into it, and the surface of the planetoid were still online. Our enemies had wisely chosen to not draw close. But... Every ship lost was irreplaceable. We were under siege on Atalor and up here in the void.
Many wireless communications planet-side had gone dark over the last two nights, and I was beginning to fear the worst. There had been no signals as to why, so all that could be imagined was they were intentional, or the destruction of ground command had finally come.
I looked down at my paw, it was drumming into the console of my seated station with the anxiety of my thoughts. I adjusted the captain’s cloak I still wore as a badge of my previous office. I could feel my eyes wanting to close from the exhaustion.
With a sigh, I bore into the incoming data on my quick-tac readouts. “Recall Branch forces eight and nine. I want them on escort duty here.” I commanded simply. Since the destruction of the admiral’s ship... and the rear admiral- and his acting replacement after that- It got messy. Our senior command had been rife with cowards. The remnants of the fleet had been under my field assigned command for the past night or so, more or less.
We’d been too shocked in the initial meet and greet with the greys. So much effort spent trying to rally the line... maybe if we’d realized just how dire it was going to get we could have organized a breakout to seek help. If anyone had been able to foresee we’d be left out to dry by our predicted reinforcements... I slammed my paw into the chair.
Now was the time for action, not looking into the past. Maybe my mind insisted on retrospect because what I was doing next was suicidal. The nervous quiet the bridge had been in since I’d marched on an hour ago was thick in the air. Nobody had said anything except when it had been important. “Commander, are all preparations made?” I heard my voice ask.
“Yes Commodore. Ten Crown-Class battlecruisers. Twelve Rootline Cruisers. Forty-nine Ranger Frigates, a pawful of refits, and Four Pulp Frigates. All are assembled and ready for the task.” Reported back my first. Was that really all we could scrounge together? Seventy-six ships and some allied refits? I’d had to leave some behind to try and prolong the inevitable collapse of our in system resistance, but the fact that from so many of our in service ships remaining we could only spare this many combat ready ships? It wasn’t good. But... if this was all that the Arxur wouldn’t notice missing, then so be it.
“Thank you Commander.” I managed. “Comms, open up a channel to the fleet please.”
I heard an affirmative call from our communications officer, the fact the broadcast was now live noted by an at attention tail from the same officer. His striped whites and blacks were a familiar sight... It was sad to think that our tails would be less and less common in the galaxy if we failed.
“This is Acting Commodore Meris of the CASN.” I started by addressing the message with my own voice and name. This fleet and what came next would be my responsibility. It was important to remind myself, and the rest of the doubtlessly tired prey creatures under my command of that.
“Every single ship in the fleet has acted with courage that could only be asked of the most stern faced of Gojid. You’ve acted with the fierceness of the Krakotl. The calculated pragmatism of the Farsul. Some of you I have no doubts too, have acted with the stinginess a Kolshian to our enemies.” I heard a couple dry chuckles and laughs at the last jest from nearby command crew members. Harking to the three founder races, and how we’d embodied the spirits of all of them was as much to remind the fleet of our own status as one of the very first to touch the stars after our uplift. It would inspire them, I hoped.
My eyes laid on the devastated remains of tens of thousands of ships off in the distance that could be mistaken for an asteroid belt where the initial engagement had taken place. Swallowing my own fears, and my need to run I steeled myself. This was the only option if I was to prevent my people from becoming ‘The twentieth species to be driven to functional extinction’ by the hated enemy.
My voice returned to me. “Task Force Atalor has been assembled here and now to complete operation ‘Last Branch’. I need not impress upon anyone the importance that every single one of you hold your nerve. This is our last branch to hop to. If this branch fails us the demise of Atalor, and of Cyonian society is inevitable. If your family still breaths on the surface, this is our last chance.” Brimstone and volcano fire talk like this was rare, but these were extra-ordinary circumstances.
In one paw I needed to inspire, but in the other everyone needed to know the stakes. We couldn’t afford any captains losing their nerve and fleeing. We’d had too much of that already. As horrible as it was, the majority of our flee-happy captains had been singled out and destroyed over the last couple nights. They made easy targets when they left the line.
“Our objective is to charge the FTL blocker on 217.815, destroy it, and allow the CASN Barr to warp to Federation territory for help. The Barr will be assisted by Silver Flotilla as an escort and vanguard. CASN Aspira and Lespaw will lead the vanguard to spearhead through the blockade while the rest of us go for the blocker to make their escape faster, and pull Predator attention.” It was risky, using a diversionary tactic like this. The Arxur were basically masters of it, but if we caught them off guard, still thinking we were ‘cattle brained’ it might work.
“I cannot impress enough- The Barr must make FTL. If the blocker attack succeeds or not. The Barr must be protected even to the destruction of every ship command present. Atalor will not become a museum or history file collecting dust on Talsk while we still breath.” I breathed hard, very hard. My tail was stiff with anxiety, and I could feel my heart throbbing with the moment. I couldn’t possibly imagine the weight I’d placed on every single prey listening. All of our backs were burdened with our world’s weight upon it.
_________________________________________
My sobering speech had quieted the fleet communication lines that were usually more threaded with snippy conversations between ships on any number of conversational topics. All that came over the general network now was affirmations that ships were at full combat readiness for the task at paw. My ship, The Bole, was at the front of the Last Branch. The fleet was ready. Weapons primed, crews set in place, and I had no doubts the majority of our captains swearing oaths on the Obelisk that they wouldn’t let their instincts get the better of them. At least- I hoped for the last part.
The main battle around Atalor and Enire’s Yard had continued, and we’d successfully slipped ourselves away on a wide arc slinging past some of the debris of our own fleet that’d drifted in an orbiting line as it was caught in the gravity well of the sun. Predictions from our navigation said they’d likely be incinerated by the star in time. I could see the drifting debris out the front viewer, the remains of thousands of ships lost in that savage first strike.
“I-i-its... Horrible!” Exclaimed my first. His voice trembling as he caught sight of motes and specs of white stripes here and there in the wreckage. Arxur were there too of course, if you could see the grey bastards on the black backing of endless space.
“Attention on sensors Commander. I want to know when they’ve spotted us.” It was inevitable they would after all. He needed to get his mind off the killing for now.
Thankfully, the breath holding wait only took another couple minutes once we’d cleared the debris. Already I could see sensors tabbing and forwarding information to other stations, and my own tactical display by my chair was lighting up. The symbol for a FTL disrupter, and its presumed range popped up in red. Already I could hear the compressed voices of crew members talking through internal ship communications to inform bridge stations of their statuses, the hum of the consoles and internal systems in the floor, wall, and ceiling above me. It was all like a humming cacophony of noise I’d grown used to over my career. It steadied my nerves every time, to at least hear the voices of my fellows with me. I consciously bore the look of the stern captain, one of my eyes glaring at the Arxur occupied space as if fearless. An act I’d perfected over long years.
“Fire coordination with the Valok and Koranak-” Two Krakotl lend-ships we’d not renamed. “should be at any time they can be aimed at the blocker. If it goes down the Barr can make her run all the sooner, and with escort in tow.” I snapped my paws along the buttons on my chair console, giving out silent tasking to various ship crews. With some sobering foresight I shuffled the engine room security detail to instead hold the choke pointed hallway just outside the bridge, alongside the other two security teams already assigned there. If we got boarded, the last thing the fleet needed was for the voice of its Commodore to go silent. The hit to moral would shatter us to space dust at this phase. I needed to live as long as possible, even if it seemed selfish.
“One minute to engagement range. We have incoming Arxur bombers, and twin-rail battlecruisers.” Reported tactical. “Other Arxur contingents are scrambling on intercept courses to block our way Commodore. I’m counting a hundred at least. They must’ve known we were coming.” I could see squadrons of dozens of fighters being deployed from our carrier banks from some of the battlecruisers who had still functioning hangers. Ready to try and put up a stream of low powered hate on any Arxur foolish enough to try and dogfight between our bigger ships.
I flicked my ear crisply. My tail signalling we move forward anyway. “Our opening salvo will decide the rest of the engagement, I want all of us firing on-” And before I’d known it one ship had fired its plasma railgun prematurely, somewhere off to the fleet’s left flank. We- we weren’t even in engagement range! “Who ordered that! I want an open channel to the fleet now!” And before I knew it I saw two or three more premature shots from various destroyers in the fleet. I cursed my luck. They were so wound up they were just doing what one hasty ship had done first.
When I was signalled as on fleet comms I spoke immediately. “Hold fire! Contact in twenty seconds! Restrain yourselves! Barr, I want you and our Silver designated ships breaking off now. Stay behind the pack and gun it once we’re pushing for the FTL-” I was speaking automatically now, my own orders streaming out in line after line. I couldn’t trust my comms to keep them in line, fleet cohesion was so dangerously low only the voice of the highest superior officer could hold their nerve at this point!
I flicked my tail at my second. “Commander, take the ship. I’ll be coordinating the fleet.” I barked, standing from the command chair and instead opting to stand by the tactical table-map in the back of the command compartment. Leaning over it.
My eyes watched live feeds on the sides of the black marred display of surrounding space. Railguns were firing, Arxur ships bled and limped from our unusually bitter assault. They weren’t acclimated to prey attacking, let alone formulating a sallying move like this. Cyonian ships were made with two principles in mind, firing speed and armour. At one time we’d produced fast and nimble ships that resembled our arboreal roots, but our time as a border state to Arxur territory had changed that.
I could see the flashes on the edges of my vision streaming in from the window far to the front of the room. My brow and down tilted head hiding the majority of the happenings. I could hear the shouts, the squeals of fright from crew members losing their will, and having to be replaced with on paw replacements waiting nearby. From what I was reading we were... Dreadfully under specs to ever overcome these hunters. They badgered us, tried to split our fleet-herd apart to pick at it. The initial shock hadn’t done much.
I slammed by fist down, using my free paw to press my index claw to one particular red dot in the second line of the assault. My own voice streaming over the comms. “All ships within range of that ship, fire! It’s their command craft!” I had nothing to back it up beyond my intuition, I’d seen ships with those sorts of flight patterns before. The smug hunt-captain with an ego big enough he wanted to be close to swoop in for final blows, but away enough from the action to coordinate his subordinates. You didn’t need to talk to the greys to pick up on their commander archetypes.
I felt the ship tremble and shake, an atmosphere alarm sounding as bulkheads shuddered closed in some distant aft section. “We’ve lost the starboard manoeuvring engines!” I heard the call. Tch..
My attention went to the live footage from camera affixed near the bow of the ship, turning it to watch the command ship I’d picked out. All of a sudden the sneaky backliner was being barraged by plasma bolts the world over from too many directions for his ship to dodge. I saw it try to rotate itself out of the way of one bolt, only for another railgun shot to blast through its left wing like a slashing claw, sending it flailing, uncoordinated, and adrift even as the missile pods that’d decorated the wing were booming off and taking the rest of it.
You could see the pause in action as the greys tried to understand what had just happened. Their leader had just be identified and targeted out of the equation. With a silent paw I ordered the fleet for a thrusting move forward, like a wall of magma rushing down a volcanic slope. “If we have to physically push them out of the way than do it, the blocker goes down now!” While they were still reeling.
I could see the Barr and its force rushing past us on a leftward angle, even as our left flank curled to enshroud the FTL blocker in an L shaped two sided attack. The latter move would doom us once the reinforcements that were only so far away arrived, but for now that mattered little. I punched in a few extra orders. “This is it, all ships-”
I could see the swing of our skirmish, we were overwhelming the shocked enemy with ferociousness alone. Dozens of red ship shaped lights blipped from the map console into dust. But we were trading close to as much. “-We’ve used our time. We only have minutes before reinforcements arrive. Take the last branch. Destroy that blocker!” I pulled up the camera feed again, glaring at the thickly armoured and shielded thing. Arxur FTL blockers of this make were much like an oversized orb, manned with a couple close range ballistics and towed into system by their brutish ships. They were essentially ship sized space stations, but all the extra space from not having engines was dedicated to survivability.
“Commander!” I was walking up to the command chair again. Flaring out the back of my cloak with an arm to get a breeze of air under my fur to wake me from the energy drained stupor the last nights had nearly put me into. “I have command.” I said simply.
“You have command Commodore.” He responded. Stepping to the side to assist with tactical. Commander Forthright had always been a capable second to me, but his tactical mind was entirely by the book. I could see that our advance was blunted by well positioned Arxur battlecruisers. The only clear line was... between them.
“I want power to helm.” Already my mind was running through the situation, our shields were down, our right engines were fried so manoeuvrability was down. It looked like our final strike wasn’t enough, the Arxur were rallying before us with the determination of a predator with its jaws around our neck. I could see interceptor breakaways chasing the Barr out in the distance. It was make or break time. Our momentum would wane unless we took it.
“I want emergency power to helm.” I clarified once I’d made my decision. A wild eyed look of fear came from the Cyonian manning the control chair. My right eye spotting a beleaguered key ship to our immediate right taking two railgun shots. I could see it’s own power systems flicking on and off as internal explosions rumbled inside it.
“B-but Ma’am!” Came the call. “The overrides would-”
“I’m aware.” I chimed back. “Emergency power, helm. Put the engines to emergency flank and point us at the predator spawned FTL blocker. Tactical, I want whatever is left of our flying payloads and railgun shots held for the blocker. Fire when I can make the call.”
I saw two tail signals of affirmative, and that’s all I needed. I could hear the ships energy systems pushed well beyond their intended running parameters. A red streak of light coming from the engineering console to my left peripheral warning the on duty crew member we were endangering the power systems.
The momentary pause of a couple seconds while we spooled up was washed with flaming orange light as our sister ship in the formation took one last pummelling too many, much like the last. The entire thing going up in flames and purging ship parts and debris in all directions. “We’ve lost the Valok!” I heard from somewhere on the bridge as I blinked the bright, blinding light from my eyes.
“Helm! I want us moving now!” I barked. Blinking out the afterimages of the flashing oranges and glaring at the wash of combat around us. I couldn’t even see what had become of our blockade runners. The ship jumped suddenly as the fuel and the stored power jolted into the igniters, throwing anything not strapped or braced on the bridge back to the back of the cabin, inertial dampeners unable to keep up.
My eyes watched with spots in them as the blocker came closer, I could see on the readout the numerals denoting its distance shrinking from five digits to four, and then to three. Arxur tried to pummel us from all sides as we jetted past them at a speed that they must have not expected. Shredding scrap, the sounds of something buckling, the alerts popping up on engineering’s console. I could hear the shouts dimly of someone marking and denoting all the damage we were taking, but my focus was precision focused. The fruit that was our target was hanging there, waiting for us to pluck it-
“Tactical!” Came my call. And with it, they fired. Missiles, ballistics, all of it. The railgun hollowly reported as its rail sent the superheated plasma. All of it sailed, and the greys hadn’t been ready for it. Their countermeasures failing to shoot down more than half a score. I imagined their maws slack with astonishment- Fwboom! As each separate payload buckled and cracked their shielding, then the armour plates, and finally into the grinds and gears that kept the damn thing working. It went up in flame and destruction.
And then... I had to deal with the aftermath of what I’d done.
As if that wasn’t enough I could hear the crackling over the fleet comms come to life as someone decided to broadcast on the line designated for every bridge. “My ship is infested by boarding parties of Predators. I’ve ordered the overloading of the ship’s reactor. The tree falls, but its roots neve-kkssskt-” As the signal was lost. Our ship kept on sailing, turning at a limping rate to try and avoid the debris of the blocker, alas- the momentum from our bold charge threw us into it. The damage uncountable dings, close passes, and hollow thudding booms as the scrap of our target tore at our outer hull. I saw rends forming, we were venting atmosphere. I doubted the ship wouldn’t fall apart even if we kick kick the engines on again.
“I need a report.” My voice demanded sternly, even though now the moment was passed and I could feel the fear of just where we were consuming me.
Engineering’s liaison spoke up “We’re hemorrhaging. The reactor was pushed beyond its apex limit, we’re going to lose it any second. It’ll take... An hour before we can get main power, at least. Repair crews cannot keep up with life support damage. No missiles, 24% of ballistics points remaining. Decks four and five are depressurized entirely-”
“That’ll do.” I stood up, and headed for the fleet map again. A shakey paw opening up the tactical map. My black eye traced over it with as much keen effort as I could muster, I could see with my own eyes the fleet was beginning to crumple. The reinforcements from the Arxur had arrived a short time ago by my surmising, and- We were being picked apart from behind. My heart was pounding in my chest, trying to keep it under control this whole time had taken sheer force of will. I’d never been an admiral, making a call like this- dooming so many of my kind on the hope that we’d- I shook my head. Looking up toward the last known position for the Silver contingent. Its escorts were still fighting, but I could see the Barr and two escort ships moving to escape, a Crown class and a Ranger class on either side of it. Another ship playing at hero slamming itself in the way of an incoming railgun shot intended to knock out the ailing Barr’s engines. In a moment, I saw it flash out of our tactical display range, followed closely by the two flashes as its surviving two escorts not engaged fled with it.
A shocked breath leaped from my chest, a paw pressed to my pounding heart. I- by the Obelisk. We’d- it’d- I slammed the switch to broadcast my voice fleetwide. “They made it!” I roared loudly across the cabin. Dozens of eyes on me as they paused in their scramble for damage control. “The Barr made it! Operation Last Branch is a success!” I could hear some level of happy chatter at the news, but it was... Dulled. The price we’d paid was enormous.
It was like... My mind was awash with chemicals I couldn’t even describe. So much alleviated stress. We’d done it. We- we did it. I stumbled toward Commander Forthright. “Commander- Commander-” I breathed out holding out a paw toward him, he looked back at me with concern.
“Commodore, hold on.” He was stepping toward me like he was going to hug me but... I felt myself stumble over my own weak legs. Exhaustion and the emotion of the moment just... I couldn’t bring myself to- why was the ground so close to my... thud.
_________________________________________
My head hurt. “Guh augh swamp-leeches...” A paw that I recognized as my own was pressing up to my head, cradling it where I felt some sort of bandage. I could hear chatter over the intercom above me. Frantic voices nearby, distant gunshots. Wait- gunshots!
My eyes snapped open. How long had I been out? The gravity was still on, that was something. The bridge lights were off, nothing but the emergency dims by the floor were on, which wasn’t too much of an issue for our adaptive eyes but- I could hear one voice clear over the din. I recognized it as our tactical officer. “-nowhere to run to!” I’d only just picked up the end of it.
I gasped. There were four or five others laid with me. Some bloody but alive. Some dead. I turned over onto my stomach and felt a sick heave coming on. I shoved it down before it became an involuntary reaction, this was no time to lose my lunch.
With rapid glances around I realized what must have happened, and why I could hear the fighting. My actions had doomed the ship to drifting without power, and the fleet had been being overwhelmed last I saw. The greys wanted cattle, and the ship was helpless thanks to my reckless action.
I stood on my paws, shaking off the strained headache that threatened my right side where I’d fallen. My cloak was still on, and so- I reached for the service pistol in its built in holster. Checking it was flicked and ready for action as I marched out of the alcove near the tactical map where I’d been laid down. “What’s going on?” I asked with a shaky breath. One of my eyes trained on still open blast doors from the bridge to the hallway.
“C-commodore!” He yipped back. “You’re alright! W-we’ve been boarded.” He gave me an apologetic look. The kind that said our security teams weren’t up to the task to fight greys in close quarters. I’d known that of course... But you could always hope. We were like fragile twigs compared to them in person.
“I understand.” I looked around. “Where’s ahh... the commander?” I heard my voice ask.
“He went to repel the boarding minutes ago with a security detail.” Came the reply. Agh... That was typical. By the book right up until the minute it’s time for last minute heroics. He was in a cage or dead by now then.
With as much authority I could muster from my tired body and spent mind I spoke “We’ll fight to the escape pods.” From the look of the others remaining of my bridge staff I could see that wasn’t an option anymore.
“T-they were launched by some without waiting to be full. A stampede ma’am.” Sometimes I wished we had just enough traits of the predators to keep our cool in a flight situation, not that I’d ever admit it out loud. Lest it get back to the assessors. I locked my paw on my weapon, we were left with one option. “We fight then.”
Sealing the blast doors would have only encouraged the greys to use a blasting charge that’d discombobulate everyone in the command compartment when it went off, so I opted instead to order the barricading of the bridge hall with as much debris as possible to form a physical firing line we could shoot over.
Unfortunately, when they’d actually managed to make it to us... it did little.
“Gah!” I flew back as two of the monsters charged the barrier, they’d forced our heads down with a grenade thrown too short. Something that wasn’t supposed to make a cracking noise did so when I hit the deck. The Arxur bruisers had bullied their way through the chest high wall like it was tinfoil paper, and even now I could see through my unfocused eyes that same Arxur had clamped his jaws around the helmsmen. The screaming ending with a crunch of neck bone. After that? The rest of my crew was broken, running for... dark corners and firing off shots in unaimed arcs while screaming in terror. I could see one trying to stuff themselves into the service locker under the viewer. Well. This was it, I supposed.
My legs tried to stand me up, but I found that my left leg had been the victim of that odd noise I’d heard when I fell. The appendage was no good for holding weight, and my exhaustion helped none at all. These Arxur... They waltzed onto my bridge, and I felt my heart thumping harder than it ever had before. My nerves were broken, and I could feel my ears pull back. The sheer terror-
And yet, I saw how nonchalant this whole operation was for them. Now that they weren’t being shot at it was like a walk through a park. Taking in the sights and smells. One grey casually picked up one of the injured crew near the back who’d been laid to rest and- Obelisk I couldn’t concentrate on it. I needed to distract them away from my crew. “Your kind are damned to the abyss beyond the Obelisk’s guidance! You’ll die, and realize all that awaits your cruel existence after death is oblivion! Hateful, empty oblivion!” I heard the brave voice from my own throat. I was putting on the act again, wasn’t I?
No less than five pairs of hateful eyes turned to me when they heard the words with such conviction. I could see more clearly now, one of them was wearing ceremonial armour of some sort. I’d never seen anything like the silver lined breastplate that took the majority of it all. This Arxur fashioned itself like a King! A circlet of black iron fastened across their brow and the top of their head. Dozens of scars and battle marks. Their left forepaw was missing a middle digit. It came to me, standing over me with barred teeth and a sick look on its face. It spoke. It actually spoke.
“You, you’re the captain are you not?” Came the throaty, deep and growling tones of my enemy. My translator denoted a feminine pitch to their speech. I just sneered up at them, unable to formulate an ample response. “You were the one to destroy one of my eyes.” It insisted. “You, you lead the charge.”
One of her eyes? “T-th-the blocker?” I stammered out without thinking.
“Yes-” A clawed, scaley paw reached down toward me, and I remembered myself. Trying to grab at the pistol in my own paw and holding it up right to them. “N-no! Die predator!” My act of brave defiance accented by a single loud pop from the firearm, and then: Click- click- click- of my gun**.** I’d forgotten I’d spent it all but the one bullet. The one bullet that had been intended for me. It’d punctured right through the not very functional body armour right through to their chest, but- this grey seemed entirely unbothered. No more than a passing annoyed grimace at having been impaled by a bullet. I could SEE the red of their blood through the hole, but- had it just not gone deep enough!?
The paw snatched around my neck, choking and hoisting me up to their face. “Hmmh... I will afford you this one thing for your mutiny against the natural order of prey and predator. The ruthless recognize the ruthless. Sending so many of your kind to die to achieve your goals should be rewarded.”
I felt sick. Its fangs were inches from my face, and its words were like a sour pafruit in my mouth. What was it on about? I’d- I wasn’t a predator! I wasn’t ruthless. We’d been forced to do this! “Cc-cc-” I could barely breath past the choke hold. My words unable to get out.
She seemed amused. “Your reward is in front of you. You see the face of Oracle. I am the fist of the Dominion that will take your planet, and put your kind where they belong. I have seen it.” She was their leader!? The bringer of the this damned fleet? I-I- Her paw had tightened, I could feel darkness in the edges of my vision and- my claws were scrabbling against her weakly- I could hear a distant voice, hers? “Smell the fear on it, and yet it shot me. Haha. These ringtails are delicious and a show.”
I couldn’t breath, my paws fell from their attempts to free my throat. One thought crossed my mind despite the horror, we’d gotten the Barr out. Help would come from our sacrifice. I’d... Lived long enough to save the herd.
For the second time that night as the comforting thought crossed it: My conscious mind failed, and I dropped into senseless darkness.
[Memory transcription subject log: Meris :: End :: Archiving]
​

Comment "I got to see Oracle!" if you made it down here.
And now you can see why I was a bit nervous posting this one. It's a one time POV. After this Meris will simply not transmit more logs I'm afraid. I've talked to some people in the past weeks about how I'm absolutely willing to kill a character on the spot. Fun fact, Verner, Qinel's superior who got shot in like chapter auhh [2]? She'd been planned as a long time antagonist with a planned arc and fleshed out personality before I said screw it and let Yivreen gat her in the eye.
I feel this chapter reflects that side of my writing too, where even though it's kind of clear that Meris is going to be subject to a fate we'd not wish upon them that we still hope and wish. Because they're a shining hero who did the unthinkable, the impossible for a prey creature.
As a side note, I'll admit that writing the Cyonians as uniquely tenacious without taking away from the humanity fuck yeah aspect of the genre can at times be difficult. When and if humanity makes a showing later in the fic I still want their presence to be just as jarring and unique as they felt in the original text to not pull from SP's vision. I think so far I've done a good job, but let me know what you think.