hello everyone , I’m about to get a PT Cruiser 07 for about $2,400. The motor was replaced , along with timing belt , water-pump , brakes , new battery & wheel bearings. Pretty much rebuilt. Do you guys think this would be a decent car? I’ve heard they suck but I’ve also heard it’s a good car for a Chrysler. My dad really wants me to get it because to him it’s reliable and I’ve met the mechanic/dealer who works on it and looked at the engine and it looks great. I’m definitely getting it , but I’d like to hear opinions about what you guys think ( with all these new replacements in mind ) ? Miles are unknown but not over 100k. Thanks!

Hi I was wondering if anyone can help me with this. My car (2008 Audi A3 8P) has recently developed a vibration at highway speeds (70mph+) and I can't seem to find the cause for it. I can feel it on the floor and slightly in the steering wheel but it doesn't cause the steering wheel to turn at all. It starts at 70mph, getting worse till 80mph and disappears from 85mph onwards. It is still present when in neutral and clutch is out and even when I hold the engine revs up. It seems to be worse when accelerating hard although I'm not sure if that's a seprate unrelated issue and it disappears when I take turns hard on both sides.
I've had my wheels balanced and rotated and tried on new alloys which didn't help. Wheel bearing and lower ball joints seem fine when I shook the wheel and tie rods and driveshafts were tight and I couldn't find any play in them. I've also torqued my wheel nuts but it still persists. Did the bounce test and the struts seem fine and can't see any cracks in the springs.
I've also replaced the outer CV joints as well as drop links which did not help and clutch and flywheel were done 2000miles ago with no slip detected. I've just done up my lower control arms and ball joints to see if that might help so I'll have a check after I have my alignment done in a few days. If that doesn't solve the vibration, I'm really lost as to what to do next.
Thanks in advance!

PerfectlyLonely95 deleted from /borrow

• Flair: COMPLETED
• Link to the deleted post
• Was a selfpost with score: 2
• Submitted 2020-01-06 16:36 (UTC)
• Was up for for approx 1589.23 days
• Probably deleted within the past 21.94 days
  • Was last seen up around 2024-04-21 23:42 (UTC)
  • Deletion detected at 2024-05-13 22:10 (UTC)

Active loans

• redditloans.com mobile search
• Could not fetch loan data from redditloans.com (error?)

Quick search

• Search for all deleted posts by this author

Title

[REQ] (1355$) - (#Ames, IA, USA), (PayPal, Venmo), ($1700 in total 800 on 01/16/2020, and 900 when I recieve my refund check around February)

Post contents

Ive tried to request funds several times, to no avail. Will be willing to accept lender terms if there is anything I can do to secure lending. I had to replace my timing belt and water pump on my car, and am unable to make the payment at the moment. My finances got thrown out of wack in Nobember when my former roommate moved out and left me with his unpaid rent. Thought I had found a roommate to split expenses with, but the management company did not accept his application, so my next paycheck will be going towards rent. I will be repaying with my tuition reimbursement check and my tax refund. I can also make a payment of around 400 when my second check comes in on the 23rd if that's works out better. Just trying to make sure I can keep my job, and not have to deal with choosing between my rent and car. Thank you

Hey you guys, I could really use some advice. I've had my 2010 Audi for about 7 years now and I just paid it off last year. Unfortunately I got the common oil leak issue and had ton deal with a shitty mechanic a few months ago who apparently only temporarily fixed the issue. Now im faced with a $7,000 bill to basically rebuild the engine and replace my turbo as well. Im thinking long-term this would be a great investment to just keep maintaining the car and to avoid financing a new one which in the end would cost me more. I really love this car, its my first Audi, and it's been good to me overall. Should I continue to invest in her or get rid of her? Below is the breakdown of the bill 🥲 :
​
3 - Engine Oil TECH: J Sioch
Note: Severe oil leaks from several areas, including rear vacuum pump assembly front upper and lower timing covers oil filter housing and turbo assembly. codes
range from system lean, multiple misfires, and under boost conditions. smoke testing engine reveals severe leaks from multiple spots including rear main seal,
timing covers, oil filter housing, oil pan. coolant leak from rear heater hose assembly as well. turbo charger has play on waste gate assembly. there is also no boost
felt and when using scan tool, demanded psi is not reached. technician suspects failure between turbo and wastegate. best options for this vehicle is to remove
engine to perform full reseal and turbo replacement, then rerun for possible fuel smells.
Labor:
Remove & Replace Long Block. Consists of a Cylinder Block fitted with Pistons, Rings,
Connecting Rods, Crankshaft and all Bearings, Cylinder Head(s), Camshaft(s), Timing Chain or
Belt and Sprockets or Gears.
Includes (where applicable): Clean and transfer Fuel and Electrical Assemblies, Engine Mounts,
Manifolds, Valve Cover(s), Oil Pan, Oil Pump, Timing Cover(s), Water Pump, Clutch and Flywheel.
Adjust Valves.
22.38 hrs $2,887.02
walnut blast intake valves 1.00 hrs $149.00
Parts: Engine Timing Cover 1 $156.95
Engine Crankshaft Seal Kit 1 $126.46
Engine Crankshaft Seal Kit 1 $46.54
Engine Intake Manifold Gasket 1 $63.85
Vacuum Pump 1 $403.30
Engine Oil Filter Adapter Gasket 1 $29.17
Engine Oil Pan Gasket Set 1 $45.54
Engine Oil Pressure Switch 1 $40.86
, Aluminum Engine Water Pump 1 $427.73
Borg Warner, OE Replacement - 100% New, Upgraded Design Turbocharger 1 $1,737.99
Mahle Turbocharger Mounting Gasket Set 1 $116.14
Fuel Injector Seal Kit 3 $116.73
Engine Crankcase Vent Valve 1 $349.00
Fuel Injector Seal Kit 1 $44.00
Vacuum Pump Gasket 1 $41.62
, Molded HVAC Heater Hose 1 $200.00
APPROVE or DECLINE Subtotal $6,981.90 + est. Tax $453.82 $7,435.72

Welcome to The Fleet Facto®y!

Est. 2946
 
Standalone Ships:

Type	Name	Melt value	Upgrade value	Price
CCU'd	Vulture LTI	$120	$175	$149
CCU'd	Vulture LTI BIS 2953	$125	$175	$165
CCU'd	Zeus MKII MR LTI	$135	$190	$174
CCU'd	Constellation Taurus LTI	$135	$200	$179
CCU'd	Vulcan LTI	$145	$200	$179
CCU'd	Hurricane LTI	$130	$210	$179
CCU'd	Terrapin LTI	$155	$220	$194
CCU'd	Railen LTI	$160	$225	$199
CCU'd	Constellation Andromeda LTI	$155	$240	$189
CCU'd	Scorpius LTI	$140	$240	$189
CCU'd	Corsair LTI	$165	$250	$199
CCU'd	Corsair LTI BIS 2953	$165	$250	$215
CCU'd	400i LTI	$165	$250	$199
CCU'd	Ares Inferno LTI	$140	$250	$199
CCU'd	Ares Ion LTI	$140	$250	$199
CCU'd	Mercury Star Runner LTI	$155	$260	$195
CCU'd	Vanguard Warden LTI	$155	$260	$209
CCU'd	Vanguard Sentinel LTI	$160	$275	$219
CCU'd	Retaliator Bomber LTI	$160	$275	$219
CCU'd	Apollo Medivac LTI	$160	$275	$219
CCU'd	Vanguard Harbinger LTI	$175	$290	$225
CCU'd	Eclipse LTI	$170	$300	$225
CCU'd	Constellation Aquila LTI	$210	$315	$239
CCU'd	Mole LTI	$210	$315	$239
CCU'd	Redeemer LTI BIS 2953	$205	$325	$245
CCU'd	Caterpillar LTI	$195	$330	$239
CCU'd	Starfarer Gemini LTI	$210	$340	$244
CCU'd	Crucible LTI	$220	$350	$255
CCU'd	Endeavor LTI	$220	$350	$255
CCU'd	Glaive LTI	$220	$350	$295
CCU'd	Valkyrie LTI	$220	$375	$259
CCU'd	Galaxy LTI	$225	$380	$264
CCU'd	Reclaimer LTI	$245	$400	$279
CCU'd	C2 Hercules LTI	$245	$400	$289
CCU'd	Prowler LTI	$255	$440	$299
CCU'd	600i Explorer LTI BIS 2953	$260	$475	$315
CCU'd	Hull C LTI	$265	$500	$325
CCU'd	M2 Hercules LTI	$285	$520	$335
CCU'd	Hull D LTI	$270	$550	$339
CCU'd	Liberator LTI	$300	$575	$359
CCU'd	Arrastra LTI	$290	$575	$349
CCU'd	Carrack LTI	$280	$600	$355
CCU'd	Orion LTI	$290	$600	$359
CCU'd	Merchantman LTI	$280	$650	$359
CCU'd	Perseus LTI	$300	$675	$369
CCU'd	Odyssey LTI	$325	$675	$379
CCU'd	Hammerhead	$300	$725	$369
CCU'd	A2 Hercules LTI	$300	$750	$374
CCU'd	Polaris LTI	$330	$750	$389

Special offers, limited numbers:

Type	Name	Upgrade value	Price	Quantity

 
Ship and Vehicle Upgrades:

Type	Name	Price
AEGIS
CCU	325A to Avenger Titan Renegade	$10
CCU	Reliant Kore to Avenger Titan Renegade	$18
CCU	Reliant Tana to Avenger Warlock	$18
CCU	325A to Avenger Warlock	$25
CCU	315P to Avenger Warlock	$30
CCU	Vanguard Harbinger to Eclipse	$18
CCU	M50 to Gladius Valiant	$18
CCU	Odyssey to Hammerhead	$45
CCU	Odyssey to Nautilus	$45
CCU	Valkyrie to Reclaimer	$35
CCU	Gladiator to Sabre	$11
CCU	Sabre to Sabre Comet	$25
CCU	Terrapin to Vanguard Hoplite	$32
CCU	Apollo Triage to Vanguard Warden	$18
CCU	Vanguard Hoplite to Vanguard Warden	$32
CCU	Sabre Comet to Vulcan	$25
CCU	Super Hornet to Vulcan	$25
ANVIL
CCU	Freelancer DUR to Ballista	$11
CCU	Liberator to Carrack	$44
CCU	Starfarer Gemini to Crucible	$18
CCU	Prospector to Gladiator	$17
CCU	Reliant Mako to Hawk	$11
CCU	Gladius to Hawk	$17
CCU	Sabre Comet to Hornet Heartseeker	$19
CCU	Super Hornet to Hornet Heartseeker	$25
CCU	Prospector to Hornet Wildfire	$32
CCU	Vulcan to Hurricane	$18
CCU	Taurus to Hurricane	$18
CCU	F7C Hornet to Legionnaire	$18
CCU	Mustang Beta to Pisces C8X	$10
CCU	Dragonfly Black to Pisces C8X	$10
CCU	Arrow to Spartan	$11
CCU	Hornet Wildfire to Super Hornet	$17
CCU	Sabre to Super Hornet	$24
CCU	Khartu-Al to Super Hornet	$24
CCU	Gladiator to Super Hornet	$31
CCU	Prospector to Super Hornet	$45
CCU	Vulcan to Terrapin	$33
CCU	Crucible to Valkyrie	$44
CCU	Endeavor to Valkyrie	$44
AOPOA / XI'AN
CCU	Gladiator to Khartu-Al	$11
CCU	Prospector to Khartu-Al	$25
CCU	Dragonfly Black to Nox	$11
CCU	X1 Base to Nox Kue	$12
CCU	Vulcan to San'tok.Yai	$33
ARGO
CCU	Mustang Alpha to MPUV Cargo	$11
CCU	Razor to SRV	$11
CCU	Tracker to SRV	$18
BANU
CONSOLIDATED OUTLAND
CCU	Avenger Stalker to Mustang Delta	$10
CCU	300i to Mustang Delta	$17
CRUSADER
CCU	Andromeda to Ares Inferno	$18
CCU	Andromeda to Ares Ion	$18
CCU	Valkyrie to Genisis Starliner	$44
CCU	Nautilus to Hercules A2	$45
CCU	Hammerhead to Hercules A2	$45
CCU	Valkyrie to Hercules C2	$44
CCU	400i to Mercury Star Runner	$18
CCU	Andromeda to Mercury Star Runner	$33
DRAKE
CCU	Hawk to Buccaneer	$17
CCU	M50 to Buccaneer	$17
CCU	Mole to Caterpillar	$25
CCU	Sabre to Cutlass Blue	$11
CCU	Prospector to Cutlass Blue	$32
CCU	Reliant Tana to Herald	$17
CCU	325A to Herald	$24
CCU	Dragonfly Black to Mule	$11
CCU	Andromeda to Corsair	$18
KRUGER
MISC
CCU	Starfarer Gemini to Endeavor	$18
CCU	Hornet Tracker to Expanse	$17
CCU	Sabre to Freelancer MIS	$10
CCU	Gladiator to Freelancer MIS	$17
CCU	Prospector to Freelancer MIS	$33
CCU	Spartan to Hull A	$17
CCU	Arrow to Hull A	$23
CCU	Cutlass Red to Hull B	$12
CCU	Perseus to Odyssey	$44
CCU	Tracker to Razor	$11
CCU	Freelancer DUR to Razor	$17
CCU	Hornet Ghost to Razor	$32
CCU	Razor to Razor LX	$11
CCU	Tracker to Razor LX	$17
CCU	Freelancer MAX to Razor EX	$11
CCU	Razor LX to Razor EX	$11
CCU	Retaliator Base to Razor EX	$11
CCU	325A to Reliant Tana	$10
CCU	Arrow to Reliant Sen	$17
CCU	Reliant Tana to Reliant Sen	$17
CCU	325A to Reliant Sen	$24
CCU	Gladius to Reliant Mako	$10
CCU	325A to Reliant Mako	$36
CCU	Mole to Starfarer Gemini	$41
CCU	Starfarer to Starfarer Gemini	$58
ORIGIN
CCU	Dragonfly Black to 100i	$17
CCU	Ursa Rover to 125A	$17
CCU	Avenger Titan to 125A	$12
CCU	100i to 125A	$17
CCU	125A to 135C	$11
CCU	300i to 135C	$17
CCU	Mustang Gamma to 135C	$17
CCU	Andromeda to 400i	$18
CCU	Aurora CL to 85X	$11
CCU	Mustang Gamma to G12	$11
CCU	Mustang Gamma to G12R Racing	$11
CCU	Avenger Stalker to G12A Military	$11
CCU	G12 to G12A Military	$11
CCU	G12R Racing to G12A Military	$11
CCU	Reliant Mako to M50 Interceptor	$11
CCU	Gladius to M50 Interceptor	$17
CCU	Dragonfly Black to X1 Velocity	$17
CCU	X1 Baseline to X1 Velocity	$11
CCU	X1 Velocity to X1 Force	$11
CCU	X1 Baseline to X1 Force	$17
RSI
CCU	Apollo Triage to Apollo Medivac	$38
CCU	Vanguard Warden to Apollo Medivac	$27
CCU	Vanguard Hoplite to Apollo Triage	$18
CCU	Aurora MR to Aurora LX	$11
CCU	Razor to Mantis	$10
CCU	Hornet Tracker to Mantis	$18
CCU	Hammerhead to Polaris	$45
CCU	85X to Ursa Rover Fortuna	$12
TUMBRIL
CCU	Cyclone to Cyclone RC	$18
CCU	Cyclone to Cyclone TR	$18
CCU	Cyclone to Cyclone RN	$18
CCU	Cyclone to Cyclone AA	$37
CCU	Cyclone RC to Cyclone AA	$25
CCU	Cyclone TR to Cyclone AA	$25
CCU	Cyclone RN to Cyclone AA	$25
CCU	Ursa Rover to Cyclone	$11
CCU	Ursa Rover to Cyclone RC	$25
CCU	Ursa Rover to Cyclone TR	$25
CCU	Ursa Rover to Cyclone RN	$25
CCU	Ursa Rover to Cyclone AA	$45
CCU	300i to Cyclone RC	$11
CCU	300i to Cyclone TR	$11
CCU	300i to Cyclone RN	$11
CCU	325a to Cyclone MT	$18
CCU	Arrow to Cyclone AA	$11
CCU	F7C Hornet to Nova Tank	$17
CCU	Mustang Alpha to Ranger CV	$11
CCU	Mustang Alpha to Ranger RC	$11
CCU	Ranger CV to Ranger TR	$11
CCU	Ranger RC to Ranger TR	$11

 
Paints:

Ship	Name	Price
Aegis Avenger	Blue and gold ILW 2950	$15
Aegis Avenger	Solar Winds Paint	$15
Aegis Gladius	Solar Winds Paint	$18
Aegis Gladius	Blue and gold ILW 2953	$18
Aegis Vanguard	Solar Winds Paint	$22
Aegis Vanguard	Blue and gold ILW 2953	$22
Aegis Retaliator	Blue and gold ILW 2953	$22
Anvil Arrow	Twilight ILW 2950	$15
Anvil Centurion	Beachhead	$18
Anvil Hawk	Blue and gold ILW 2953	$18
Anvil Legionnaire	Shadow Strike Paint	$18
Anvil Hornet	Blue and gold ILW 2953	$18
Anvil Valkyrie	Splinter ILW 2950	$24
Anvil Liberator	Condor	$35
Crusader Mercury	Fortuna	$23
Cursader Spirit	Crimson	$20
Cursader Spirit	Intrepid	$20
Cursader Spirit	Olympia	$20
Cursader Hercules	Blue and gold ILW 2953	$29
Drake Dragonfly	Ghoulish Green	$15
Drake Cutlass	Ghoulish Green	$15
Drake Cutlass	Scull and Crossbones	$19
Drake Buccaneer	Ghoulish Green	$18
Drake Caterpillar	Ghoulish Green	$22
Drake Herald	Ghoulish Green	$18
Drake Mule	Ghoulish Green	$14
Drake Mule	Smokestack	$9
Drake Vulture	Ghoulish Green	$20
Gatac Railen	Hyaotan	$23
Greycat STV	Blue Steel	$9
Mirai Fury	Leatherback	$15
Misc Reliant	Blue and gold ILW 2953	$15
Misc Freelancer	Paint pack ILW 2950	$23
Misc Starfarer	Paint pack ILW 2950	$43
Misc Expanse	Stardust	$20
Origin 100i	Blue and gold ILW 2953	$23
Origin 400i	Fortuna	$23
Origin 400i	Penumbra	$29
Origin 400i	Meridian	$29
Origin 600i	Fortuna	$29
RSI Lynx	Moonrise	$15
RSI Aurora	Blue and gold ILW2950	$15
RSI Constellation	Blue and gold ILW2950	$22
RSI Scorpius	Stinger	$35
RSI Scorpius	Tiburon	$27
RSI Galaxy	Protector	$25
Tumbril Cyclone	Blue and gold ILW 2953	$15
Tumbril Storm	Summit	$18

 
BUKs, modules and more:

Type	Name	Insurance	Melt value	Price

 

• CCU = Cross-Chassis Upgrade. • Melt value = what you get if you decide to exchange your ship for store credits. • Upgrade value = this is the value you upgrade from if you decide to do that. • LTI = Lifetime insurance. • MI = Month insurance. • OC = Original Concept. • Prices include PayPal fees. PayPal invoice will be sent. • Buyer must be PayPal verified, I am since 2008. • I do not have a Discord account and I do not middleman! • HOW TO BUY: PM me what you would like to buy together with your PayPal email. I will then send you an invoice. Once the invoice has been paid the bought item will be gifted to your PayPal email. You will then receive a mail from RSI which contains a gift link. The link transfers the gift to your Hangar (RSI website, if you are logged in, or it will ask you to do so). • If you are interested - send me a PM. My down time is usually between 11 pm - 7 am UTC (CET) 

Have a good day!

Battle beyond Saturn

They came out of deep space, always preying on weaker opponents. With their gigantic ships, they smashed through any system defenses they encountered before looting and pillaging valuable resources and food. No one knew where their home world was located to go after them.
They had a Behemoth Class Ship which had been up-gunned to have no equal in a 1:1 battle. Having laid waste to a system, they would disappear once again into the vastness of space. They were gone before anyone could assemble a fleet large enough to engage them in battle.

Pluto Station - Sol System

Alarms started ringing all over the station. Sensor satellites in the Kuiper belt had detected a large fleet emerging from jump, inbound to Sol system. Since no known convoy was scheduled, this was most likely the hostile raiders.
Captain Karlson - Commander Pluto Station: “Hail on all frequencies. ‘Unknown ships. Please identify yourselves. You are entering Sol System Space’. ”
“No response. I think we have our answer. All hands, General Quarters”
“Sensors - what do we have?”
“Eleven ships in total. One ship over 2 million tonnes. Nine large vessels from 600 kilo-tonnes to one mega-tonnes. And one smaller vessel approximately 150 kilo-tonnes accelerating and heading above the orbital plane”.
“Comms - open FTL channel to Fleet HQ at Ganymede Station. Leave it open and send continuous telemetry.”
“Aye-aye, Captain.”

Behemoth Class - Havoc

For Admiral Goranth of the H’runik, this was the 14th system raid and frankly, things were routine and boring. His Captains knew what to do and were getting into battle formation. The Scout Ship “Seeker” was already accelerating above the planetary orbital plane in its capacity of Spaceborne Early Warning. All engines and sensors, it was the one ship in the raiding fleet to have defensive armament only.
The only surprise was how quickly the natives had detected his fleet and sent out a challenge. No matter - their puny fleet was no match for his ships.
“Comms - tell the Captain of Smasher to take care of that station. I don’t want any surprises from behind once we are in-system”. Within a few minutes, the Admiral watched the ship fall out of formation and head towards the source of annoyance.
Jump drives could take ships between the stars rapidly. The bigger the drives, the further the jumps and consequently fewer jumps needed. However, once inside the gravity well of a star system, normal physics took over and ships were limited to sub-light speeds. Due to the mass and inertia of Havoc, Admiral Goranth was expecting to take about 10 standard days to get to the populated third and fourth planets. He wasn’t expecting the defending fleet to slow him down at all.

Sol Fleet HQ - Ganymede Station

Admiral Vir Singh (CinCSDF), thanks to the FTL data feed, watched the events unfold on the edge of the Solar System. He and his team analyzed the movements of the approaching enemy fleet.
Analyst 1: Marking them as “Bandits” starting with “1” from the biggest to smallest. On screen now. Those ten ships in the main body are huge. Even the smallest out-masses our largest carriers.
Analyst 2: If intel is right from previous raids, they’ve added bigger and many more weapons to the original designs.
Analyst 3: Bandit-11 ascending above the orbital plane is obviously their eyes. They will be able to watch and report our movement.
Commodore Perera: Hello? What’s Bandit-9 doing? He’s going after Pluto Station!
Admiral Singh: Ganymede Actual to Pluto Actual. There’s big trouble headed your way. Get ready to evacuate to the Charon bunker.
Captain Karlson (on comms): Aye-aye Sir. We saw them. We will be out of here within 20 minutes. Will leave the channel open and will take command from the bunker on Charon.
Admiral Singh: Destroyer Squadron 8 - hide in the Kuiper Belt for now. You can’t match the enemy and we will need you later.
“Admiral Singh to all ships. Recall all personnel and get ready to deploy within 12 hours. Replenish stores, especially ammunition. I’ll be calling a meeting with all Captains and XOs at 14:00 today.”

Behemoth Class - Havoc

Admiral Goranth: Seeker - report on enemy strength.
Seeker: This system only has three Dreadnought class ships. These have the biggest weapons. Then there are six heavy Cruisers. Their biggest ships are of an unknown configuration. These don’t seem to have any major armament. There are eleven of these.
Admiral Goranth: Tell me more about these big ships.
Seeker: They only seem to have close in defensive weapons. Analysis suggests they are big in volume but not heavy in tonnage so maybe some sort of troop ships or freighters?
Admiral Goranth: We’ll deal with those later. Tell me about the Dreadnoughts and Cruisers.
Seeker: Standard configuration. The Dreadnoughts may be a match for Smasher or Hammer but even together will not be a problem for Havoc. The Cruisers individually will not be a problem but they look like they operate in teams so the combined firepower may cause some damage.
Admiral Goranth: So, these are the ones we need to destroy first.

Sol Fleet HQ - Ganymede Station

Analyst 3: Bandit 11 is on station and watching our fleet movements. We won’t be able to hide anything while it’s up there.
Commodore Perera: Admiral, I have some aviators who may have come up with a solution. With your permission, we’d like to set up in the small conference room.
—
Lt. Wang “Hornet” Bo Wen (Sqr.Ldr): May I introduce Lt. Bill “Dingo” Saunders and 2nd Lt. Stella “Orbits” Ceres.
Admiral Singh: At ease. Have a seat. Tell me your plan?
Dingo: It was Orbits’ idea, Sir. She is somewhat of a genius when it comes to trajectories.
Orbits: Yes Sir. None of our ships have the power or the fuel to accelerate straight up to Bandit-11. However, we may have a way of looping around Saturn and using its gravity to slingshot up to Bandit 11.
Dingo: We estimate that 2 attack craft each with 2 buddy drones will be sufficient to take care of Bandit 11. Each ship will carry 4 torpedoes and the buddies have six.
Hornet: And our squadron of 4 attack ships with 8 buddy drones are volunteering. The extra ships and torpedoes will ensure that we get the job done.
Commodore Perera: You need to tell the Admiral all of it.
Orbits: Once we loop around Saturn and accelerate up to Bandit 11 to destroy it, we’ll only have enough fuel to turn around and stop our forward velocity. While we will be slowly moving back to the ecliptic plane, we will not be able to rejoin the fleet without a tanker.
Admiral Singh: What’s the timeframe for this operation if approved.
Hornet: If we leave at 12:00 Hrs today, we will engage Bandit-11 around 14:00 Hrs tomorrow.
Admiral Singh: My analysts will go through what you’ve written up. Get ready to go but wait for my approval. I’ll make my decision within the hour.

Sol Fleet HQ - Ganymede Station - 14:00 Hrs

All fleet encrypted holo-meeting.
Admiral Singh: Thank you all for assembling. As you know by now, we are facing a fleet of raiders that out mass and outgun us by a huge margin. But we do have a trick up our sleeves. They are used to slugging it out with the big guns, they have never encountered carriers and our strike craft.
Admiral Vassily: In fact, apart from Bandit 11, our analysis of the sensors on the big vessels is that they just don’t have the resolution to pick out the individual strike craft. Nor do they have any Close In Point Defense weapons to engage anything this small.
Captain Park: So how are we going to get rid of Bandit 11?
Admiral Singh: We have already sent an attack squadron to take care of it. If all goes to plan, it will no longer be a problem by this time tomorrow.
Admiral Vassily: So, since they are expecting to fight our Dreadnoughts and Cruisers, that’s what we will show in our fleet movement for the next 24 hours. It’s part of our Maskirovka.
The Dreadnoughts, Shambala, Shanghai-La and Taprobana will be at the center of the formation like a spearhead. Three cruisers on each of their flanks. The carriers will be in the rear. That is until Bandit 11 is destroyed. After that, they’ll spread apart to allow the carriers through. Since there is no need for a Combat Space Patrol to protect our ships, every strike spacecraft will be launched as soon as they are in range.
This meeting went on for another hour with questions and refinement of the plan. Everything depended on Bandit 11 being taken out as scheduled.

Squadron 471 “The Howling Wolves” - looping around Saturn

Lt. Wang “Hornet” Bo Wen: Wolf 1 to Wolf Pack - get ready for final slingshot burn.
“Wolf 2, everything green”
“Wolf 3, Green”
“Wolf 4, Green”
Five minutes later
Hornet: Burn in 3-2-1
…
…
Dingo: Wolf 3 to Wolf Pack - we have a problem. The computer went off-line and didn’t initiate the burn.
Hornet: Wolf 3 - Can’t you burn now and catch up?
Orbits: Sorry Sir. It was a tight window and we missed it. The computer crashed at just the wrong time and took the engines off-line. By the time we got the engines back up, it was too late.
Hornet: Wolf 3 - Return to fleet.
Wolf 4 - Tighten up formation.
Dingo: Aye and Sorry. Give them hell.

Behemoth Class - Havoc

Admiral Goranth: I don’t know if these Humans are brave or foolish. I expected them to run. But it looks like we are going to have some target practice soon.
Comms, tell all ships that I want it quick and easy. Just smash those battleships and cruisers on our way through. They are the priority but take out those troop carriers if they are in range. I don’t want to send anyone back to do cleanup.

Wolf 3 - still looping Saturn

Orbits: Hey Dingo, I’ve been doing the math and I’ve got a crazy idea.
Dingo: I’m not going anywhere, so let’s hear it.
Orbits: Between us and the buddies, we have 16 torpedoes. I don’t like the idea of going back to the fleet with a full load. What do you say that we expend them on that big bastard?
Dingo: How?
Orbits: Instead of decelerating during this orbit, we do measured burns and accelerate. We’re going to swing by Titan and use its gravity to send us towards the enemy.
Dingo: What about the Nav-Comp. What if it craps out again?
Orbits: I don’t trust it. I’m going to time all the burns and tell you where to point the nose. Do you trust me?
Dingo: With my life!
Orbits: There’s bad news! Once we swing around Titan, we’ll be going about 0.45c. We will only have enough fuel to make minor course corrections but not enough to turn around or stop. And if the enemy slows down, speeds up or even fractionally changes course, we’re going to miss them.
Dingo: So, this is a one-way mission. Okay, I’m in if you are!
Orbits: Alright! First burn is going to be in 6 minutes and 43 seconds, and I’ll give you a countdown.

Squadron 471 “The Howling Wolves” - approaching Bandit 11

Hornet: Wolf 1 to Wolf 2 and 4. We’re only going to have one pass at this. I’m going to aim for the engines. Wolf 2 - you’ve got the main body and sensors. Wolf 4 - hang back a little and hit anything that looks undamaged.
And remember, as soon as the torpedoes are away, do a hard 180º turn and full power to thrusters to kill forward velocity.
Tally Ho and Good Hunting!
Wolf 2: Aye, aye and good luck
Wolf 4: Let’s get them!

Scout ship Seeker

The scout ship had detected the nine tiny ships approaching but the defensive weapons couldn’t track or target them. They were just too small. Besides, what threat could they be? The captain hadn’t even bothered to inform the Admiral of these gnats approaching.

Sol Fleet HQ - Ganymede Station

Commodore Perera: Admiral, sensors indicate that the Howling Wolves have successfully taken out Bandit-11.
Admiral Singh: Excellent. Send an all-fleet message - “Execute Operation Anvil now”
The Battleships and Cruisers moved aside and allowed the Fleet Carriers to surge forward. So far undetected, the Destroyer squadrons made their way behind the enemy hidden by the Kuiper belt objects.
Admiral Singh: And now we wait.
Commodore Perera: Yes Sir. Oh, and a tanker has been sent to refuel Wolf Squadron. Except for Wolf 3 who is rounding Saturn again.
Admiral Singh: Keep me updated. Thank you.

Behemoth Class - Havoc

Comms: Admiral, communication lost with Seeker.
Admiral Goranth: What? How?
Comms: Unknown Sir. They were transmitting and then suddenly stopped.
Admiral Goranth: Try to re-establish contact. We need their data.
Sensors: Admiral, the enemy fleet is moving. The capital ships are moving aside, and those transport carriers are moving forward.
Admiral Goranth: This is not a coincidence. They must have done something to Seeker. What are they up to? Get me all the information on those eleven big ships.
Sensors: Sir, I don’t understand what’s happening but there seems to be a cloud in front of those ships. Our sensor resolution is not enough to see what that is. Our best guess is that it’s some sort of electronic countermeasures, but it doesn’t seem very effective against our sensors.
Admiral Goranth: Guess! That’s not good enough. I want answers.

Sol Fleet HQ - Ganymede Station

Commodore Perera: Admiral, all carriers indicate that every available fighter, bomber, attack craft and their buddy drones have been launched. The count is 2,267 craft with over 9,000 torpedoes, missiles and bombs.
Admiral Singh: Tell them not to bunch up. The enemy may not be able to track and target our craft but even firing blindly those big guns can take out hundreds if they hit.
Commodore Perera: Yes sir, the attack plan is to go above or below the enemy. We believe their guns have very limited elevation. They typically target other big ships by maneuvering their entire ship and firing broadsides.

Wolf 3

Orbits: This final burn has got us pointed right to rendezvous with the enemy fleet - nice flying. You bounced off Titan's atmosphere like skipping rocks on a pond.
Dingo: Hey, I’m only the driver. I just followed your instructions. And we are traveling at 0.449c - isn’t that a record in normal space?
Orbits: Yeah! But who are we going to tell?

Behemoth Class - Havoc

Sensors: Admiral, whatever that cloud is, it’s still coming towards us but is dispersing and slightly above and below our path.
Admiral Goranth: I was thinking space mines, but then why are they not in our path? Navigation, can we proceed in the gaps?
Navs: Yes sir. They seem to be leaving a huge gap in the middle.
Admiral Goranth: This still bothers me. I don’t like it.

Wolf 3

Dingo: On my mark, fire all 16 torpedoes. I’m going to target their bridge.
Orbits: All torpedoes armed and ready. You have plasma cannon as well.
Dingo: Stella, it’s been an honor and a pleasure serving with you
Orbits: It goes both ways, Bill.
Dingo: Fire …

Behemoth Class - Havoc

Admiral Goranth: I don’t like this at all. I want all weapons on all ships firing when we get in range. Open a channel to all shi …
The sixteen torpedoes and three ships slammed into the bridge area of Havoc. Just the kinetic energy due to the velocity would have been enough. But the delayed fuzes in the explosives caused even more devastation. The Admiral and entire fleet command were vaporized, as were sixteen decks and over 400 other personnel.
The sudden loss of communication from Havoc caused a vacuum in command on the other ships. There was just no structure in place for any other Captain to take charge of the fleet. The situation was unthinkable.
And that’s when the carrier strike craft struck. They specifically targeted the guns on all ten ships. In less than 30 minutes, the ships were defenseless. Confusion and panic reigned on all ships and exasperated by the fire and smoke and the blaring alarms.
Now, Admiral Singh sent in the Destroyer squadrons. The twenty-three Destroyers had been hiding in the Kuiper Belt and had stealthily been moving in while the enemy’s attention was focused elsewhere. They first hid in Neptune’s shadow and then Uranus’. Their job was to target the engines and sensors on all the enemy ships.
Pretty soon, all ten ships were literally blind and dead in space with their heads cut off. Now it was the turn of the Battleships and Cruisers. When they were done, all that was left of the ten ships was a debris field slowly scattering between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus.

Sol Fleet HQ - Ganymede Station

Admiral Singh: Please send my personal congratulations to each and every member of the fleet. Their actions will be studied for centuries to come. Now give me the numbers.
Commodore Perera: The actual number of enemy dead is unknown but estimated to be around 30,000 to 40,000. We captured over 5,000 and they are being interrogated. Unfortunately, none of these seem to be navigators who know the location of their home system.
Admiral Singh: And our losses?
Commodore Perera: I have the complete list here but 87 KIA, no wounded or missing. Top of the list are Lt. Saunders and 2nd Lt. Ceres. If Wolf 3 hadn’t taken out the bridge on the enemy ship, we might have had a bloodier fight. They transmitted all their data before they hit, so we know it was a suicide run.
Admiral Singh: This is the part I hate - writing to the families. Writing the after-action report is a breeze compared to that.
Commodore Perera: That’s why you have a staff, sir.
Admiral Singh: No, I have to do this myself. I sent them out to die. Medals just don’t seem to be enough.

H’runik Home World - location unknown

After 47 days, Seeker finally limped home. With only 2 of its 19 engines working, it was a slow journey with many short jumps. Most of its crew was dead. Fortunately, Ensign M’thul knew the coordinates to get home and Second Engineer K’gala kept the ship running … after a fashion.
C-in-C Admiral A’zeneth: Ensign M’thul, I want a full report. What happened to all our ships? Where is the treasure you should have brought back?
Ensign M’thul: Sir, I regret to inform you that the fleet was destroyed. They were ambushed. We almost didn’t make it back either.
Just then alarms blared as multiple fleets with hundreds of ships from several star systems jumped in around the system.
C-in-C Admiral A’zeneth: You fool! Why didn't you disguise your route back. You led them straight here! Now you have killed us all!

So after spending a stupid amount of effort getting Panzer Commander running on my modern battlestation I decided to pull that old computer out of my garage and see if I could get it running.
Surprising it started up and booted into Windows (XP MCE). According to the system log, last boot was sometime in 2008.
Current hardware:

• Gigabyte GA-7ZXE motherboard (VIA KT-133A chipset).
• Athlon XP 2600+ 1.4ghz
• 256MB SDRAM
• SB LIVE! 5.1 Digital
• Radeon VE
• CD-R Drive
• DVD-ROM Drive

This was my rig when I went to college, running Windows Masochist Edition (ME) at the time. I want to use it as a Windows 98 gaming rig.
Replacement parts I've ordered:

• MSI KM2M Combo motherboard. The current one has about a half-dozen caps that are domed or leaking (and I remeber the KT133/SB Live cobo having a lot of stability issues). The KM2M has a 12v VRS. I looked in the MSI manual and my current RAM should be compatible.
  
• GeForce MX 400 to replace the Radeon VE
  
• Probably and IDE to SD adapter. The mechanical HDD is probably on borrowed time.
  

I'll more than likely need a new power supply, and I'm eyeing a new 4:3 LCD (though my current widescreen one has VGA in).
Is there anything else I've overlooked here? I'm targeting W98-era gaming. Maybe dual boot into XP, but primarily W98.
I'm on the fence about a Voodoo. They're stupid expensive and Dgvoodoo1 should work on that setup anyway.
For DOS gaming I'd rather build a new (older) rig.

Breston Boobilay
Breston Boobilay meandered his way along the sprawling New York sidewalk, stifling a stagger as he lurched forward. He was on a drunken mission like so many others he’d set out on before, and this mission, like all others, entailed the timely acquisition of cheap, night-time cooze. Air to the vast Boobilay Meat Pie fortune, Breston rarely had trouble sniffing out hole. But, out there, gripped in the chill of the brisk winter wind, he found himself with his balls as blue as his icy fingertips.
Breston rubbed his palms together and shuddered, watching the breath escape him in thick, swirling plumes. That’s when he noticed the flickering red neon through the gloom ahead, and he couldn’t help but smile as he felt himself instantly become warmer. He lit a cigarette in an effort to restore his sobriety, however briefly, as he thought about what potentially awaited him beyond the door he now found himself in front of. Pussy, and more booze, and maybe even a plug that wouldn’t turn out to be just another irritating, time wasting dipshit. Breston took one last satisfying drag from his smoke before tossing it in the slush on the curb as it sizzled and died. Then, he opened the door and went inside.
Breston Boobilay 2: Electric Boobilay
Breston came inside and a thick fog of lingering smoke whipped by his head out into the icy chill of the New York City winter he’d just left behind. The door slammed through the force of an incoming gust and Breston shivered as a conglomerate of weary eyes turned to meet his reddened, eager face. The patrons of the bar were hardly the fresh meat he’d been hoping to encounter in a shithole like that. The collective weathered faces, likely habitual fixtures of the place, turned back to their drinks and their dull, mumbled conversations as Breston made himself at home on a stool at the far end of the bar, ordering a J&B on the rocks. Breston reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a new cigarette, lighting it and inhaling deeply. The smoke escaped him, and as it dispersed across the room he noticed the only remotely fuckable woman there as she eyed him with intrigue from the other side of the bar. Breston clutched up his drink, drained it, and moved in for the kill.
“Got a light?” She asked, seductively, after he had closed the distance having brushed his way through the decaying bodies of the scant Tuesday night crowd.
“No,” Breston replied smoothly, “But I have an eight-point-five inch long penis.”
Her bleach-blond bangs ruffled in excitement, the way a cat’s fuzzy face might if you were to hold a fishy treat up to it. There was only one kind of pussy that Breston was interested in, and only one type of fishy treat.
“Is that right?” The pussy purred, her blue green-flecked eyes brightening. “You wouldn’t lie to a lady now, would you?”
Breston felt his four-point-eight inch long member stiffen in his jeans and he readjusted his posture to conceal it.
“How about that light?” Breston murmured sensually, offering up his burning tip for the lady’s smoke.
“My, my,” She said, the words passing her lips in slow rolls of erotic delight. Pouting them around the slender filter, she moved in closer to Breston, taking her sweet time before finally allowing the cigarette to burn. “what a gentleman…”
“How old are you, by the way?” Breston interjected flirtily, “Like thirty, or something?”
“I’m twenty-eight…”
“Good enough,” Breston didn’t usually bang out grandmas, but in a drought like the one plaguing him, he knew it best to seek out any port possible to wait out the storm of pussilessness until the opportunity for a half-decent fuck with a youthful lay presented itself like that sword in the stone, or whatever the fuck it was. The thought occurred to Breston as if a crotch lightbulb had lit up around his midsection: ‘Perhaps she has a younger, hotter roommate…’ “Your place or mine? I have to warn you, though, my shitter is all backed up.”
“I… guess… we could go back to my-” The pussy stammered.
“Great, Let’s go.” Breston interrupted, sexily.
“Aren’t you at least going to buy me a drink first?” The pussy pleaded, motioning towards the disinterested bartender presumably getting ready to close up.
“Sure, we can stop at a liquor store on the way and grab some forties. If we move fast, we can make it before they stop selling booze. Come on, hurry!” Said Breston, throwing up an arm in the direction of the door like some mad conductor in the throes of a beautiful symphonic din.
And so Breston and the cheap night-time cooze bounded out into the darkness from whence they’d came, moving swiftly, lest the hour evade them and Breston be forced to grunt atop the relatively sub-5 geriatric female in the midst of returning accursed sobriety. An outcome which, he knew, simply wasn’t an option.
Breston Boobilay 3: Curse of the Cooze
“We have you now, Mr. Boobilay!” Malphus Mephistopheles cackled menacingly, relishing in his imminent, long-awaited triumph over renegade superspy Breston Boobilay, who lay helpless, strapped to the long metallic table as the laser beam drew ever closer to his bulging crotch. “Tell me, how does it feel to know that you will never get pussy again? Bwahahahaha!”
Breston could feel the billion-degree heat running along his exposed thighs, threatening his tighty-whitey clad dick and balls with extinction. That’s when he remembered; the tabs of flunitrazepam contained in the secret toe compartments of his shiny black loafers, of which Malphus’s underlings had neglected to remove along with his tuxedo pants. Breston began to chuckle a cackled laugh of his own, drawing the ire of his bedraggled captor.
“You know what your problem is, Malphus?” Malphus moved in closer, slamming a pale, thin palm down on the table by Breston’s head. Breston didn’t even blink. “You never got pussy. That’s why you hate me so much.”
“That isn’t true!” Malphus shrieked, the remainders of his long scraggly hair standing on end. “I’ve got pussy, lots of times!”
“Oh, yeah?” Breston replied coolly, “Who from?”
“You wouldn’t know her. She goes to a different school…”
The laser beam was just a few inches away from destroying Breston entirely, the distinctive burning stench of singed pubes beginning to fill the small subterranean chamber. He knew that he had to act fast.
“You wanna know a secret, Malphus?” Breston half-whispered.
“What?” Malphus replied, leaning in.
“SURPRISE ROOFIE!” With a flick of his loafer, Breston discharged a fleet of small pills into Malphus’s’s shocked, wide open mouth. He began to gag as they became lodged in his throat. ‘Bullseye’, Breston thought to himself smugly as he smirked, reaching out his hand and snatching the insane scientist's keys from his belt beneath his stained lab coat. In a flash, Breston was free and on his feet. By the time he was straightening his tie, Malphus Mephistopheles was passed out on the cold, metal floor; drooling.
Breston laughed, dropping his underwear and proceeding to teabag the unconscious man. Breston’s laugh erupted into a cackle surpassing that of any villain he had previously encountered, loud enough to alert Malphus’es’s throng of penguin-like minions. They gasped in horror as they witnessed the violation of their master.
“Who’s next!” Breston roared, the weird little penguin freaks fucking off in abject defeat, screaming as they went.
“I’m unstoppable! Do you understand that! I’m a god! I’m Breston Boobilay! Look at my work, and tremble!”
All of a sudden, Breston felt that familiar dreaded feeling begin to rear up from inside him. It stabbed at him with doubts and the incessant pain and the anxiety that made his body tremor. In an instant, he felt the power drain from him, replaced by something else. Something terrible. He looked down at his quaking hands, and saw that they were dripping with blood.
Breston awoke with a scream, as did the cooze he’d shacked up with. She hissed at him, still very cat-like in her manner.
“What the fuck, dude! Are you okay?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Breston sighed, rubbing at the beading rows of sweat dangling from his manly brow. “Just another night terror…”
“Why is my bed all wet?..” The girl questioned hesitantly, “Is that… is that piss!”
“No!” Breston felt himself beneath the sheets, soaked to the bone. “No, it’s just sweat! See?”
Breston removed his hand from his soiled groin, lifting it up to her face so that she might smell that it was in fact only sweat. She screamed, penguinishly, as she fled from the room in hysterics. Breston stood and began to put his clothes back on, eyes never moving from the large dark stain covering the pink bedspread. It was a stain as dark as his soul, and Breston knew that he couldn’t hide from it deep in a pussy hole for very much longer…
Breston Boobilay 4: The Quest For Peace
Breston glared into the steam rising from his coffee cup, the sinuous curves of its alluring dance making his dick twitch minutely in subtle arousal. The hangover was debilitating, but he told himself that it would pass with the caffeine and the shower he longed for back at home. However, to his despair, Breston knew better. How many times had he been there before, like that? Not in that exact diner, in that exact situation, mouth dry as an old nun’s cooze and smelling faintly like urine, but simply infirm, haggard, and desperate for some kind of meaningful relief? Breston knew, in that uniquely lonely moment, that he’d never find it.
The waitress breasted boobily across the diner floor, carrying Breston’s pie aloft in the air towards him. He couldn’t help but take notice of the way that her uniform hugged her body as her bosom heaved heftily as she walked, and, yet, Breston’s manhood remained as limp and placid as a premature baby’s pinkie. She reminded him of her, when they first met. She set the plate down, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she smelled Breston’s undying shame.
“Will that be all, sir?” She said, already preparing to turn and leave him there, all alone. Just like she did.
Breston wanted to scream ‘No!’. He wanted to yell at her and spew out all the things that he should have said, before it was too late. Breston wanted to spring up from the booth and grab the woman by the knockers and say ‘Were they worth it! Does he love them better than I did!’, but, he didn’t. Instead, he said nothing. The waitress was already gone, along with Breston’s will to live. The coffee’s steam had diminished down to small, dwindling whisps. He scooped up the mug and finished its contents, focusing on the lukewarm liquid as it spilled down his throat as if it might quell the shaking in his hands. Breston knew that only one thing could do that. He glanced at the clock behind the counter. It was eleven-thirty AM. Time to hit the sauce, he thought, grimacing.
Breston Boobilay 5: A Long Way Down
The chilly afternoon stung at Breston as he brought the bottle back up to his lips for another sickening hit of brandy. The shakes had left him, but his despair had only grown. It had calcified, made clear in his mind in a way that was truly unignorable and utterly undeniable. Everything good that Breston had ever had; his wife, his upper management job at the Brooklyn meat plant, his youth. It had all gone away so quickly. Breston thought of his parents, and the beginnings of a tear began to form before being swept away across his temple by the incoming wind. He thought about the last thing his father had said to him before he had stormed out to go drinking the previous weekend: ‘Breston, you're forty-two-years old. It’s time you moved out of the house.’, and he remembered how angry he’d been; yelling and cussing him out as a ‘frigid dinosaur’ who refused to take the time to understand Breston’s ‘alternative lifestyle’, and he couldn’t help but laugh. Father could never understand.
Breston tipped the bottle over his mouth and gulped down the remains of the liquor as he savored every last, overpriced trickle before shambling over to the guardrail at the rooftop’s edge. He eyed the distance between the two buildings, then he took the drop into account. After a moment, he took a step back, raised the bottle over his head, and launched it. It arched high over the street below before clattering against a tall windowpane of the office block opposite the building he was on.
“Bullseye…” Breston said aloud, to no one.
Suddenly, he got a flash of the dream he’d had the night before when he blacked out in that cooze kitten’s piss pad, and the urge to run and jump doubled in intensity. Breston didn’t like to remember. He didn’t want to. But, even in his nightmares, Matty was still there. Matty was always there. He was their favorite. Always was. It was always, ‘Breston, why can’t you be more like your younger brother?’, ‘Why can’t you be more like Matty?’. Always so perfect, with his good grades and mommy’s constant approval. Breston hated him. Oh, how he hated Matty with every fiber of his being, and he made that clear when Matty reached highschool. Breston was supposed to look out for Matty, protect him. But Breston did anything but. Matty was shy, and insecure about himself, but, most of all, Matty was ashamed of the fact that he’d never had a girlfriend before. Breston would make a big show of bringing whatever hoe-bag he’d seduced with daddy’s money back home so that he could flaunt her around like some prize that Matty could never earn, which crushed him, but not nearly as much as when Breston began spreading the rumors around school about how his dick didn’t work. By the end of the week, Matty was little more than a laughing stock and an emotional, broken wreck, and by the end of the month, Matty was dead.
“It wasn’t my fault, you stupid fuck!” Breston screamed into the dispassionate, gray New York sky within which no God could ever dwell, flashes of his mother screeching, ‘You did this! You!’ tearing at him like sharpened, savage claws ripping their way ravenously through a model’s skimpy lingerie. “I could have helped you! I could have made it all okay again!”
Breston fell to his knees and began to sob like the sad little boy he’d always known he was, feeling more alone than he ever had been before in his entire life. He had made so many mistakes. So many people hurt, and for what? His passing, childish amusement? His bottomless desire for gratification? A cover to hide from the hurt of it all? Breston didn’t know anymore, and he didn’t want to. He couldn’t think about it anymore. He couldn’t take it.
Standing on trembling legs, Breston tentatively put both hands on the railing before gripping it firmly, whimpering as if it produced some sort of electric shock with his touch. He tried to remember when the last time he had felt scared like that was, but he realized that there was nothing even remotely comparable to hold onto. Before another thought could pass through Breston’s head, he took a quick, deep breath, closed his eyes, thrust one foot over the waist-high metal railing and allowed himself to fall. The wind whipped him with the force of a jet engine as he soared towards the ground, half-screaming, half-choking as it knocked the air out of him. Despite the unimaginable terror, and all the regret and the shame and the misery and the abject disappointment that was his nothing of a life, Breston couldn’t help but feel at peace now that it was finally all over. For a fraction of a second, Breston opened his eyes, and he never closed them again…

Hello everyone,
I have a Toyota Yaris 1.4 Diesel Manual Tranmission 2009, and recently I have changed the belt, and the tensioner because it was making noises on idle. After the part replacements it still makes like a grinding noise sometimes 2nd and the 4th gear is hard to put it in its like I have to forcefully do it. The noises apear only on idle and when I put the first gear and start to relase clutch then it stops when the car is on the move. And when I fully relase the clutch on first gear and I dont apply gas the car moves but it feels like its going to die and the grind noises. The car has a good torque, when in gear its not slow or anything the car performance is not affected by this problem. I also have replaced the tranmission oil a while ago. What could it be?

Sorry this took so long, kinda got caught up.
Don't have too much to say, other than Maple Whiskey is rapidly becoming one of my favorite drinks, and I'm sorry this took so long to come out. Real life kinda got in the way for a bit (I have one of those?), and I had to put stuff on the backburner. Sorry.
That about covers it.
Previous/Main/Discord/Next
_________________________________
Fries limped his way down the ship’s hallways, using the wall to his right to support himself. Twisted metal and debris littered the hallways, but it had clearly not come from this sector. He was in the center of the ship, far enough away that nothing was dangerously damaged yet, but they were obviously putting stuff in the wide, CEVA-rated hallways for the time being. He gritted his teeth from the pain and was forced to take short, shallow breaths as he walked. He clutched his side as he shuffled along, almost wishing that he was in one of the suits to help support him.
“Fuck me.” He muttered, pausing for a moment outside of his room to breathe. He was about to type in his code to unlock the door when he realized that it was already unlocked. Not sure why and fearing the worst, he drew his personal pistol from the back of his suit’s waistband, keeping it close in to himself to make sure that it couldn’t get pulled away from him. Exhaling sharply as he brought his arm away from his chest to hit the button that opened the door.
It quickly slid open with a sharp hiss and allowed him into the room. The lights were on, and the room didn’t seem to be different, but he distinctly remembered having locked the room prior. He slowly walked in, trying to clear as much as possible while coming in. He took note of the new bag in the room, but couldn’t see anything else new in the room.
His attention was rapidly divided by a shipwide alert that the admiral had left the vessel, causing him to turn around suddenly.
“You alright?” a voice behind him asked, causing him to rapidly turn around to aim the gun, but wound up hurting him more and causing him to drop to one knee.
“What in the fuck are you doing in my room?” the ODST whispered, barely able to speak from pain.
“Got moved down here for safety, you can ask Donahue.” she stated, helping him up and taking the gun from him.
“Got it… he just left the ship?” he asked, immediately attempting to lay himself down on the bed.
“Yeah, he’s heading to see the Tikaqick.” Firdaus stated with a slight bit of disdain in her voice.
“You got a problem with them?” the ODST muttered, barely looking at her.
“Not as many as with my own people, but certainly a fair number of problems with them.” she hissed, helping the man move towards the bathroom.
“You’re going to need to explain, but in a bit. I have like six different bandages to switch.” Fries grunted, closing the door behind him.
_____
“Sir?” the lieutenant Marine beside him asked, racking a round into her rifle’s chamber, “You alright?”
“Hmm?” The man asked, his head quickly snapping up to look at her, “Oh, yes. I’m fine.”
“You’re sure?” she asked again, watching as the man sealed on his helmet.
“Yes.” He nodded, shooting a glance back at the ship they left from, “Yes… it’s not my first time doing this…”
The crew continued on in relative silence. The Marines and ODSTs were a mix of the two crews, one of each being from the old crew and one of each being the replacement crew. The Marine Lieutenant was one of the new crew, along with the ODST Sergeant. The Marine Sergeant and ODST Captain, however, were both well experienced in combat.
“We’re approaching the landing bay.” The pilot called out over radio, “Thirty seconds.”
“Copy that.” Donahue nodded, standing up and bracing himself against the roof to avoid floating around, “Well… Guess it’s that time again.”
“There’s no CIA on board and the ship isn’t a USS.” The Marine sergeant stated, unbuckling himself but not standing up, “It’ll be different this time.”
“Let’s hope not. Flu’ron’s still on board.” James Orwell, the xenobiologist muttered, attempting to raise his reflective visor, to little avail.
The Marine floated over and helped the man with his visor before floating towards the pilots’ cabin door and letting himself in, floating between the two so he could see out the front window.
“Siddown, Sergeant.” One of the pilots muttered, not looking back as he did minute adjustments to the ship’s trajectory as they approached.
“This whole damn thing could be made of gold…” The Marine muttered, magnetically locking himself to the floor and kneeling down as they approached.
“Crossing threshold, standby for turbulence.” One of the pilots radioed out, a hydraulic whine reverberating through the ship’s hull as they lowered the landing gear.
“Back and seal the hatch, Sergeant.” The other pilot snapped, barely looking back at the Marine, instead focusing on the windows and displays ahead of them.
“Copy that.” The Marine nodded, taking the time to check the two pilots’ weapons stowed behind their chairs before floating himself back into the crew compartment and sealing the hatch behind him.
“Ten seconds to landing. Artificial Gravity is off in the bay, disarming OMS.” A pilot called out, still keeping a smooth voice about him, “Threshold crossed, stand by.”
The ship seemed to do nothing for a moment before a very light shudder echoed through the hull, followed by a sharp, metallic ‘thud’.
“We have contact, maglocks engaged.” The first pilot informed.
“Gravity systems and harmonics coming online. Disengaging RCS.” the second pilot called out, likely talking to his partner over the crew in the back. After a few seconds of silence, the ship seemed to spool down and orange lights came on in the back of the crew compartment, showing up just over the CEVA-sized, round airlock doors at the sides of the craft and above the regularly-sized hexagonal door at the back of the craft. After a moment, a female robotic voice called out ‘Pressure stable’ and the lights switched to green.
“We’re down. Thank you for flying Air Peregrine, please take your bags from the overhead compartments and leave in an orderly fashion.” one of the pilots called out, putting on an extremely good and smooth ‘airline’ voice.
“You are aware that you’re talking to an Admiral, right.?” the Marine Lieutenant asked, seemingly disappointed at the pilot.
“Oh, I imagine he does.” Donahue smiled, motioning for the ODSTs to head out the door first.
The two armored figures were already moving towards the door, letting the ladder come out first before checking pressure one last time and opening the rear door. To their shock and horror, the void of space lay just outside the door, though nothing was losing pressure.
“Plasma barrier?” a Marine asked, his voice faltering slightly when he saw the smoking form of the Dracula in the distance.
“Something like that…” James muttered, waiting for the Admiral to head down the ladder after the ODSTs before following him down.
There were no aliens directly off their ship, which surprised them slightly, but gave the crew time to prepare themselves. They were supposed to form a ‘triangle’ with Donahue at the front, the two ODSTs behind him, and the two Marines on either side of James, behind the ODSTs. However, they had more than enough time to prepare, to the point of it becoming awkward. The team moved to the left side of the Ranger, and sat in waiting. The Marine Sergeant began to get skeptical and checked the chamber of his rifle while his reflective visor dropped into place, subtly preparing for a conflict.
However, before their thoughts could fester any further, a door off the left-side nose of the Ranger opened to reveal the creatures that owned the ship. They were around the same height as a Human, albeit seeming a little taller on average. They were obviously Avian-esque, with short, stubby, owl-like faces, in opposition to the long beaks of Afi’end. They had two large eyes just behind their beak, with what appeared to be two sets of closed eyelids underneath them. Their feathers were gray and black, with a small amount of crow-like iridescence in them. They had long wings which wrapped around their bodies, making a ‘cloak’ around them. Their legs were similar to that of an Afi’end’s, but seemed slightly thinner.
They wore thick, heavily stylized armor. It had gold plating with ivory and blue-diamond accents, glassy pauldrons, and other, seemingly glowing, lines and accents in it.
The rest of the ship looked similar; with gold, ivory, and blue-diamond glass seeming to come from all parts of the ship. The ship looked incredibly clean, with no smudging seeming to come from anything except the Humans. The flight deck they were on was made of some kind of ivory-esque compound as well, with the only scuffs on it being from the RCS thrusters the Ranger had used earlier. Against the gold, whites, and blues of the alien vessel, the greens, grays, and oranges of the Human suits contrasted hard;
Donahue’s suit was nothing special, nor was it too dirty, but it was not perfectly hermetic, like the rest of the ship seemed to be. James’ suit did seem to fit their criteria of cleanliness everywhere except his boots, where it was obvious that he hadn’t put hours of work into cleaning the dirt out of the fabric on the last surface mission he had done. The Marines’s suits were the most well-loved; boasting patches of stained mud, foliage, and other assorted junk all over the suit. The ODSTs were clearly battle-damaged, however: Cuts and scrapes into the plating could be seen around the arms and chest, with plasma burns etched into the metal of the helmet on the more experienced man.
Donahue almost wished he had been able to wash his suit now, but he hoped they would understand.
“Hey, we’re not the only ones to bring armed guards.” The ODST to his right stated.
“Oh thank Christ.” Donahue muttered, shifting his reflective faceplate up, “I would have felt awful if they trusted us that much.”
“Feel better, they don’t.” The ODST muttered back, standing up straighter as the aliens approached.
“Admiral Donahue?” the creature at the front of the group asked, looking at the admiral in the front of his own group.
“Captain Kinlykc?” Donahue asked, stepping towards the aliens. The creature seemed mildly amused at the Admiral’s suit, but went back to looking him in the eyes shortly after.
There was an awkward silence for a moment before the alien decided that it was likely in everyone’s best interests if something was said.
“Apologies for my awkwardness in this situation; it has been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of doing a proper first-contact scenario.” it stated, clearly motioning for his own guards behind him to be less on-guard. The Humans were taken aback a bit, as the creature didn’t move his mouth to speak, but more seemed to emanate the words from itself.
Donahue nodded, but didn’t have to motion to his own men, as they had already come to stand down themselves.
“Entertainingly enough, I was still captaining that ship out there for our true first contact.” Donahue nodded, making sure that both his hands were visible in front of him.
“Really?” the avian asked, motioning for the admiral to follow him deeper into the ship, “Is your ship the only one in your fleet?”
Donahue paused for a moment before following the alien Captain, motioning for his team to follow shortly behind him.
“Negative, we’re just lucky.” The Admiral smiled, attempting to hide his trepidation through humor. The ODSTs were just as slow to follow behind, but eventually caught back up, seemingly worried about leaving the pilots alone. They were brought into a wide hallway. It had the same stylings as the docking bay had, but seemed to have ‘tiling’ instead of the solid piece that the other room had. James slowly pushed his way through the column of armored personnel and wound up beside the Admiral.
“Umm, excuse me, Captain Kinlykc?” He asked, fiddling with his suit to attempt to make sure the external speakers were working.
“Yes?” the avian asked, looking back at the scientist.
“How… are you talking?” He asked, not sure whether the question was to be considered rude or not, “As in, your mouth isn’t moving, how are you talking to us?”
After the scientist clarified himself, the avian seemed to understand the question.
“We do not breathe through our mouth, I’m assuming like you do then.” It nodded, tapping on its beak and unfolding its wings. It raised its arms and pointed at a set of openings under the creature’s armpits, “We breathe and vocalize through these.”
James was speechless for a moment, but the Admiral was relatively sure that was because he was deciding whether or not it was entirely wrong to lean in closer for a better look.
“If you do not mind me asking a question of my own, what are the clothes you’re wearing?” The avian asked, motioning to everybody except the ODSTs, “Are they your uniforms?”
“These?” James repeated, pulling at his suit, “These are pressure suits. To keep our own atmosphere in.”
“But why?” The bird asked, continuing down the path, “We scanned your vessel as the door opened to analyze what your atmosphere was to accommodate, and they were almost identical.”
"We pressurized our vessel to the bay’s atmosphere.” Donahue stated, nodding at the two, “Our atmospheres are similar, and very breathable, but not the same.”
“Why the pressurized suits then? We can breathe the same atmosphere, no?”
“Our people are not nearly as advanced as some others, who can do bacterial scans of atmospheres before they even land to make sure that neither side will infect the other. We cannot do that, so we hermetically seal off from everybody else to avoid infecting them.” James stated, finishing Donahue’s explanation.
That was an answer that seemed to sit well with the avian, who nodded at them and continued down the hallways.
_____
Kinsey practically dive-rolled out of her vessel’s docking port and into the Dracula’s gravity field, her helmetless RHEV suit’s bulk causing her to roll erratically to the side. She quickly got back up and started jogging her way to the other side of the ship, her quickly-moving, armored figure moving everybody out of her way. She wasn’t in any actual hurry, but the message did have to be delivered relatively quickly.
She quickly dog-legged down a side hallway and towards flight bay 3, near the primary medical bay. As soon as she was at the area, she started heading back towards the outer hull of the ship again, turning only when she was directly on a course with the med bay. After a few moments of running, she turned into the medbay, where Flu’ron was inspecting a rifle another Marine had given him.
“Feathers!” she called out, skidding to a halt outside the door.
“Oh Hells.” Flu’ron muttered as he looked up at her. He handed the rifle back to the Marine and walked towards her, “What do you need, Doctor?”
“Only us Marines can call him ‘Feathers’.” the Marine muttered, putting on a fake pout for her.
“Look!” She exclaimed, ignoring the Marine’s protest and shoving a datapad into the avian’s face.
After pulling back a bit, he took the pad from her and started reading the text on it. After a moment, during which the Marine came over to see what the commotion was, Flu’ron looked up from the pad and nodded at her.
“Well… Goddamn!” He smiled, handing the pad back and pulling out his own tablet, “One-hundred. Going your way.”
“Woah, hold on, I think I missed something. What’s going on?” the Marine asked, confused as to why the Afi’end was sending the scientist money.
“Her brother, who was listed KIA a month and a half ago, is not dead.” Flu’ron explained calmly, watching as the scientist practically bounced off the walls with excitement. He wasn’t sure whether it was because of the money or that Frost was still alive.
“And the fucker made it onto Xalantun before me!” Kinsey stated, calming down enough to get the words out.
“You saw the ‘sent’ date, right?” Flu’ron stated, making sure she knew how recently she had received it.
“Three hours, forty-five minutes ago!” she stated, nodding enthusiastically.
“If the round-trip time isn’t that long, why’d it take him nearly a month to respond?” Flu’ron asked, just sitting down to enjoy the show.
“I’ve got two theories; either he’s been too busy to respond, or this is the first time he’s gotten a data dump in months.” She stated, “Where’s Firdaus, she owes me money!”
Flu’ron shrugged, but the Marine perked up, “To my knowledge, she’s down in Deck 5, section 6, subsection 3, room 156. She’s keeping hidden from the alien ships around us.”
Kinsey perked up at that knowledge, suddenly looking concerned, “Hold on, what?”
“Yeah, she’s residing in an ODST’s room, to my knowledge. Not sure why she’s hiding though. I’m not saying anything to anybody who isn’t a crewmember on board this ship though, aside from you, doc; she wants to stay hidden, we’ll keep her that way.”
“In an ODST’s room?” Kinsey asked, looking immediately at Flu’ron.
“He’s got four broken ribs, you need to go stop her.” the avian stated, rolling his eyes, “I’ll prep the machines, just in case.”
“Ok, I gotta check on two things with her then.” Kinsey stated, nodding at the two before running out of the room and yelling “Carry on!” at the pair.
_____
“Peregrine, we’re going deeper into the vessel, think you can handle yourselves?” The Marine Sergeant asked, slinging his rifle onto his back.
“Hey! Keep that thing out!” the Lieutenant snapped, motioning to his gun again.
The man rolled his eyes, but unlimbered his rifle again.
“Copy that, Praetor. We’re good for the time being.”
“Understood. Keep us apprised, yeah?” the Marine radioed back, shifting his suit around to relieve a pinch he had created in his armpit.
“Copy that, Praetor. Out.” one of the pilots responded back, killing the communications network afterwards. The Marines and ODSTs walked alongside the Admiral and xenobiologist in silence, taking intrigued glances down hallways as they passed them, and receiving intrigued glances back from aliens as they passed them in the hallways. They weren’t entirely privy to the conversation that was happening ahead of them, but they weren’t looking to be part of it either. The two veterans were far more interested in getting a good look at the ship than having to talk to anybody, and the two newer members were still too paranoid to pay attention to anything other than their duties.
They were brought into an unoccupied room with a large window that looked out into the deep space just beyond, though the Dracula and other alien vessel blocked the view. The guards from both species gave a quick visual sweep of the room as they came in. Upon watching the Tikaqick guards sit down or generally relax, the veteran ODST and Marine slung their weapons and moved towards the back of the room, motioning for the other two to do so as well. Despite obvious hesitation to do so, they eventually moved to the back with the other two soldiers.
“So what, if you are able to tell me, are your people doing out here?” Captain Kinlykc asked, glancing back at the soldiers momentarily before returning his gaze to the Human ship.
“Sadly, I am not able to give you our reasoning for being out here. That’s not exactly something I can give away freely.” Donahue sighed, not even sure why he’d actually have to explain that, “What I can tell you is that we weren’t planning to be out this far.”
“Really?” the avian asked, looking at the man with surprise, “Scans have indicated that your vessel is prepared for long-range assignments, based on compartmentalization and areas theorized to be for food.”
Donahue raised an eyebrow at the statement, realizing that they likely had a near-perfect model of the interior of the ship if they could theorize about the ship’s rooms, even if they couldn’t entirely see the contents of the rooms. He was relatively concerned at the revelation, but didn’t let it show.
“Well, that ship is a modification of our first attempt at a long-range exploration ship, but the project was canceled five years before first contact.” Donahue explained, watching as a few suited figures climbed around the hull of his vessel, “There were only ever three of the ships created, all of which got converted to combat duty."
“Really? I know they got converted, but what became of the other vessels?” the avian asked, seemingly entranced by the same men on the hull.
“Well, the Armstrong-Class exploration vessels, named the AC-00 J.T.K., AC-01 J. Harker, and AC-02 M. Reynolds, were all brought back to our home planet as soon as possible, be that from assignment or construction, for retrofit.” Donahue explained, turning away from the window so he could better look at the avian, who saw the gesture and did the same, “The J.T.K. was a prototype, and was axed shortly thereafter. The Reynolds was renamed to Serenity and moved to be part of the United States Space Force, but was destroyed on assignment after the newly-fitted reactors went on runaway and melted half the ship off.”
“And the J. Harker?” it asked, indicating towards the window, clearly already knowing the answer.
Donahue nodded and motioned out the window, “Refused the new reactors, renamed to Dracula, joined the USSF, made first contact, made first contact negotiations, made first Human-to-alien combat, limped back to our space, received the first official ship-systems AI, became the first ship in the UNITF a year later, and still remains in combat as the oldest space combat ship in our service. As a species.”
The bird looked at the vessel with a new form of respect in its eyes, though whether for the crew or the vessel was unknown. It gave a shallow nod to the vessel before turning back to the man in front of him, “How old is it?”
Donahue had to pause to think for a moment, trying to remember everything he could about his ship.
“Well… the program to make them started nearly seventy years ago, and she was the first ‘production’ model. After decades of systems upgrades and additions, she’s the embodiment of Theseus’s ship, but her original christening would have been… forty-eight years ago.” He muttered, ignoring the confused look on the alien’s head when he mentioned Theseus, “I remember her first launch. I would have been around seven at the time.”
“How… Do you keep something like that running for that long? Especially if it’s a combat device.”
“Same way we keep the grandfather clock and jukebox in the primary lounge running; good care from a good crew.” Donahue nodded, watching as the blue sparks from a plasma cutter lit up a section of hull that was surrounded by CEVAs.
_____
“Watch it! Merde!” The Marine snapped out as Kinsey sprinted past him, intent on quickly making it to the room.
“Sorry! A life is at stake!” she called back, hearing another string of words in French that she didn’t care to translate yelled back at her.
The scientist slid to a halt in front of room 156, trying the door, then knocking on it rapidly. When nobody came to the door, she looked up and down the halls, locking eyes with the Marine, who was still watching her.
While still looking at him, she grabbed a tool out of her belt and started to plug it into a receptacle below the keypad.
“Code is two-five-four-eight.” The Marine called out, shaking his head and just walking away.
“Oh.” was all she could manage, pausing for a second to put the tool away before waving back at the Marine, “Thanks, Frenchie.”
“Je m'appelle Mauvieux…” he mumbled from down the hall, turning down another hall, seemingly to get away from her and the scene of the crime.
She ignored him entirely as she punched in the code and hit the button to open the door. The door had barely slid open entirely before she slipped inside and looked around for the snake.
“Firdaus, don’t! His ribs are-” She started, pausing when she realized that the snake was not doing anything other than sitting curled up in a corner of the room, a book in her hands. She looked surprised when she saw the suited Kinsey enter the room.
A door slid open to the scientist’s right, revealing the ODST she was looking for. Unfortunately, he was covered only by a towel around his waist, was clutching at his floating ribs with one arm, and had a pistol in his other hand, pointed directly at her head. As soon he recognized who he was looking at, he lowered the sidearm and leaned against the doorframe.
“Jesus Christ, Ev. What th’ fuck yeh doin’ in here?” He hissed, letting her take the gun from his hand and put it on a nearby desk, “And who th’ fuck gave you the emergency code to my door?”
“Someone who I forgot the name of.” Kinsey shrugged, stopping the man from bending over to pick up his clothes, which had been unceremoniously dumped onto the floor. She handed them to the ODST, who nodded at her and headed back into the bathroom, leaving the door open and hoping, or simply not caring, that the two women didn’t look into the room while he was dressing.
“Ok then, better question; and one I already asked you: Why the fuck are ya barging in here?” he wheezed out from the bathroom, obviously struggling a bit as he tried to dress himself.
“Making sure the thirty-odd foot long constrictor isn’t doing anything to the poor man with the four broken ribs.” She shrugged, shooting a shit-eating grin back at the snake, who flipped off the woman as she smiled back.
“Hey, don’t worry, I drew a gun on her as well.” Fries chuckled, grunting immediately afterwards. After a moment, he came out of the bathroom far more clothed than previous. He immediately went towards the scientist and gave her a quick, one-armed hug that leaned a fair deal of his weight on her, something that took her off-guard.
“Hey… you alright?” She asked, clearly realizing that something was wrong. She knew how the ODST usually acted, and he wasn’t generally the kind to hug without a stiff drink or three in him, let alone put weight on somebody else.
“Yeah, just… didn’t like what happened out there.” He sighed, pulling his weight off of her and going to lean against a wall.
“Didn’t hear what happened. You mind filling me in?” She muttered, moving to sit in a nearby chair. It creaked in protest to the woman’s suited 6’2” frame sitting down, but didn’t break.
“Thought I was going to die stranded out in the middle of fuck-off=nowhere space.” Fries wheezed, knocking his head on the wall behind him, “Kinda… put into perspective what I was told from day one was still a possibility.”
“Well, now I’m more interested in who told you what from the start.” She chuckled, clearly attempting to lighten the mood.
“Me mum always told me that I’d die alone in space, a billion and a half miles away from home.” He muttered somberly. He thought for a moment before his face twisted into a sad grin, “First time she’d shown concern for me in years.”
“Jesus, man. I’m sorry.” the woman muttered, feeling bad about her previous attempt at humor.
“Seriously; my condolences.” Firdaus piped up, simply sitting in her coils and watching the ODST sadly.
“Ehh… Whatever. That cunt never wanted to have me to begin with.” the man shrugged, grunting slightly as he sat down, “I did her a favor when I joined the forces.”
“That’s… not how you should look at that…” Kinsey muttered, standing up slightly when the man sat down, but sat back down when he waved her down.
“Ehh. Don’t care anymore. She’s six feet under an’ can’t bitch at me anymore.” He stated callously, rolling his eyes.
Kinsey quickly snapped to look at him, an expression of horror and sadness on her face. Firdaus seemed to share the same reaction as her, but was far less expressive in her movements.
“What the hell, dude?! Your mother died?! When! How?!” she exclaimed, getting out of her chair and motioning her arms out.
“Three years ago, MDMA overdose.” he muttered, clearly wanting the subject to change.
“Fuck…” the scientist muttered, picking up on the man’s clear reluctance to continue the conversation, “You could have said something.”
Fries paused for a moment, before simply shaking his head, “Nope.”
Kinsey paused for a heartbeat before nodding and stepping back towards the door, “Well, I’m sorry that there’s no better place to leave this at, but I’m going to head out.”
“Alright. Have a good time doc.” the ODST muttered, looking down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at her and nodding again, “Check in again sometime soon, yeah?”
“Yeah. Can do.” She nodded, opening his door and stepping out.

THE BEGINNING
The exclusive Fiat 147, which was directly derived from the European success 127, launched in 1971. The new car, according to the Italians, would fit like a glove to the needs that Brazilians had to get around in a country of continental dimensions: the small 147 was robust, with easy and simple mechanics and, at the same time, provided a low cost maintenance. Furthermore, it had significant fuel economy when compared to other national cars of the time.
Perhaps due to its very compact external dimensions in relation to what was known, the new Fiat car left Brazilians with some insecurity, because, when looking at the national market, it was really compact, which made people think it was a frail and unreliable car.
THE ENGINE AND OTHER THINGS
Initially the compact received the FIASA engine (Fiat Automóveis S.A) which had a displacement of 1,050 cc yielding 55 hp (SAE) which led it to having a 0 - 100 km/h or 0 - 62 mph time of 18,8 seconds and a top speed of 135 km/h or 83 mph but most importantly, the fuel consumption was incredible: 12.3 km/l or 28.9 mpg in the city and 18.8 km/l or 44.2 mpg on the highway. In relation to the Italian 127, the Brazilian car had a more robust body, with more welding points, a fully independent suspension, being independent McPherson strut with coil springs at the front and transverse leaf spring at the rear, things that were necessary to face the harsh and mostly unpaved Brazilian roads. To showcase the new car and shut down the doubts of potential buyers a bold marketing campaign was launched where the little car descended and ascended the 365 steps of the staircase of the Penha church (RJ), famous for the promises of its faithful, without any type of special preparation, showcasing its reliability. In 1979 the ethanol version was launched, making this the first car to use this fuel type in the world, due to the modifications necessary to use this fuel the horsepower increased to 62 hp. Thanks to the burning of ethanol, this version let out a smell that resembled distilled drinks, which earned the car the nickname “Cachacinha”, which is the diminutive of the word “Cachaça” Brazil’s national distilled beverage.
SMALL EXTERIOR, BIG INTERIOR
The 147’s external size was very deceptive, measuring 3.62 m or 11’10” long, 1.54 m or 5’ wide, 1.35 m or 4’5” tall and having a wheelbase of 2.22 m or 7’3”, the car was smaller than the VW Beetle, but thanks to its masterful use of space and and the engine mounted in a transverse position, something never seen in any Brazilian car up to that time, made the interior space and trunk larger than that of its competitors, the trunk had a 352 liter or 12,43 cubic feet of capacity, which was helped by the fact that the spare tire was placed on top of the engine and thus didn't took any space away from the luggage.
DESIGN / FACELIFTS / NEW GENERATIONS
EUROPA FACELIFT (Picture 2): In 1980, the Fiat 147 underwent its first visual restyling, which was concentrated especially on its front. The new front of the hatch had a look that followed the trend of the time, marked by the wedge-shaped hood, the new slightly inclined engine cooling grille, and the polypropylene plastic bumpers that, depending on the version, could be painted in black or grey, the steering lights are now integrated next to the headlights, meanwhile, the side stripes of the sports versions are replaced by side rubbers, while at the rear the only novelty is the new license plate lighting set. With this update, the front of the car became known as the European Front. On a side note, the basic trim level still had the same visual style as the first version up until 1982.
SPAZIO FACELIFT (Picture 3): In 1983 the Spazio restyling brought new features such as new plastic bumpers with a wraparound design, new headlights, new amber direction lights, a new brand logo, on its side it featured new direction repeaters on the fenders, new plastic moldings and new wheels, at the rear the Spazio version had a larger rear window and new, thinner and longer tail lights. Inside, the new features included a new dashboard with a more modern design, a new instrument panel with information such as: speedometer, coolant temperature and fuel level, as well as warning lights.
VARIANTS
FURGONETA: This was the cargo version of the 147, which was nothing more than a 147 without the rear seats and rear windows. On the inside, this version gained a dividing grille to prevent objects in the cargo compartment from being thrown against passengers in the event of an accident or sudden braking.
147 PICK-UP / FIORINO: In 1979, the first compact pickup truck derived from a passenger car, the Fiat 147 Pick-Up, was launched. The pickup used the same platform as the 147 hatch, which resulted in a small bucket with a curious lid that opened to the side. Despite being small, the pickup can carry up to 420 kilos of cargo and could either be equipped with the 1050 cc engine or the 1300 cc one. In 1981, the Fiat 147 pickup was updated, now called Fiat Fiorino, the pickup uses the same platform as the recently launched Panorama, and with the old front, the pickup became larger and had its suspension reinforced to support the new capacity of 500 kg or 1102,31 lbs of load. Other than that, it's worth highlighting the new vertical taillights that allow the pickup to have a larger lid that can open downwards.
FIORINO CARGO VAN: In 1981 the cargo van version was launched, based on the pickup truck, this version was called Fiat Fiorino Furgão. This van stood out for several reasons, including its good load capacity of 2700 liters or 95.34 cubic feet, the two large doors that opened to the sides and the small cargo compartment above the cabin.
PANORAMA STATION WAGON: In addition to the restyling, 1980 was marked by the launch of the Panorama station wagon. Available only in the C and CL versions and equipped with the 1300 cc engine, the Fiat Panorama stood out for its appearance, which already had the restyled front, the large glass area, and the great internal space, thanks to its length 18 cm or 7 inches greater than the hatch, another detail that increased its internal space was the projection on the roof that increased headroom for rear seat occupants. Regarding luggage, this station wagon had a trunk with a capacity of up to 669 liters or 23.62 cubic feet, which could be increased to 1440 liters or 50.85 cubic feet by folding the rear seats.
OGGI SALOON: In 1983 the sedan version of the 147, the Oggi, was launched. Being only available in the CL version, it had qualities such as good interior space and a spacious trunk of 450 liters or 15.8 cubic feet.
TRIM LEVELS
Initially there was only one level available, L but just a bit later two new trim levels were added, the basic version that didn't have a denomination and the top trim level called GL, leaving the L version as the middle of the road level.
147 GL: The GL level had things such as chrome exterior details and new special wheels, a velvety lined interior, front seats with reclining backrest and headrest, tilting lid for the trunk, new exclusive steering wheel and new gauge cluster that had a coolant temperature marker in addition to the speedometer and fuel gauge.
147 GSL: In 1979 a new, more sophisticated version was unveiled, the GLS, the GLS version had external details such as a thin black stripe marking its entire side, the name of the version on both sides of the hood, black door handles, a new brand emblem in the center of the engine grille, as well as chrome bumpers with large rubber bands and rectangular headlights located above the front bumper. Inside, this version featured velvet upholstery, three-point seat belts on the front seats, headrests for rear seat occupants, three-spoke steering wheel, more complete instrument panel with tachometer as well as speedometer, temperature gauge engine and fuel level marker and two more circular markers in the center of the panel with an oil pressure gauge and analog clock. The Fiat 147 GLS had the new 1.3 engine that developed 61 horsepower.
147 RALLYE: That same year the Rallye version with a sporty appeal was released. This version differed from the others by presenting details such as side stripes with the name of the version, wheels painted in black and silver, black bumpers with a spoiler on the front bumper and a small black air intake on the interior cooling grille. Inside, it featured an all-black interior with wraparound front seats that had headrests integrated into them, a sports steering wheel and the same instrument panel as the GLS version. The engine was the same 1.3 as the GLS version, however, thanks to the double barrel carburetor, its power increased to 72 horsepower.
FIORINO CITY: In 1982, Fiat Fiorino gained a new version, the City, a version that was not aimed at work but aimed at a younger audience, it had a touch of sportiness, this one had the new Europa front and a better interior finish.
147 C: This was the new naming for the previous basic version, this version had the novelty of having the same front as the other trim levels.
147 CL: This is basically the previous L middle trim levels version.
147 Top: This is the new name for the GLS version. This was the only version changed. It had details such as plastic appliqués on the sides, the name of the version on both sides of the hood, wheels painted black and silver, front bumper with spoiler, fog lights, rear window wiper and as an option: sunroof. Inside, this version brought even more luxury and sophistication with the same dashboard and steering wheel as the Panorama CL, reclining front seats and a split rear seat.
147 Racing: The 147 rallye version was replaced by this version called Racing. This version had basically the same look as the Top version, with the addition of a small wing at the rear of the roof that brought improvements in performance and fuel economy. Inside, this version differed by having a lower steering column, resulting in a more vertical steering wheel position, in addition to the new four-spoke sports steering wheel, the front seats with high backs and covered in black vinyl with the front part in gray flocked velvet.
147 TR: In 1983 the new sports version of the 147 was launched, the 147 TR. The Fiat 147 TR's appearance was marked by long-range headlights and a rear with two spoilers, one on the roof and the other on the trunk lid below the glass. The interior had high backrest seats, and a dashboard with a rev counter, voltmeter and oil pressure gauge.
OGGI CSS: In 1984, the performance version of the Fiat Oggi, the Oggi CSS, was launched. This version had an exclusive 1400 cc engine powered by ethanol that developed 78 horsepower and 11.2 kgm of torque. The look received several changes such as front deflector, side skirts, wing over the trunk lid, deflector at the end of the roof, as well as auxiliary headlights, exclusive stickers and new aluminum wheels. Its ride height was also lower, the rear suspension was firmer and its clutch was new and made to make the sedan more sporty. Inside, the Oggi received the dashboard and four-spoke steering wheel from the 147 TR.

Been chasing down a pesky belt sneak for some time and thought I'd get some opinions before I take the "next step". Originally had some belt sqeak when I bought the truck (2008 V6) 2 years ago. Squeak would come and go based on weather and higher humidity. Replaced the belt and it went away only to return a few weeks later. Replaced idler no.1 thinking that was the culprit ad it had a skating sound when belt was takin off. Squeak went away then returned a week or two later. Stethoscope all the other pulleys and wheels and nothing seems suspect. Just taking the belt off and putting it back.on alleviates the sqeauk for a bit and then it inevitably returns again... Starting the think the tensioner is bad now... thoughts?

. I bought it about 9 months ago and have had it has a project since. (Bought from Kentucky.)
Vehicle: 2003 Toyota Tacoma TRD Offroad 4x4 (E-Locker)
Mileage: 152,000 Miles on the 3.4L V6 Manual Transmission

• Body: Good Condition, still have all of the Clearwater but the color has surfaced on the roof & Hood into a burnt orange. There is a good bit of small rock chips.
  
• Frame: Sandblasted Frame, Cut out all of the Bad/Thin Steel and Welded in New Plate Steel. Also replaced the Rear Cross member with OEM. Coated the Frame in POR-15, than added two coats of rustolium rust Reformer, and finally Fluid Filmed all of the internals and externals of the Frame.
  
• Wheels & Tires - 3rd Gen 16" with 31" All Terrains
  
• Components Replaced: (Added a 2.5" Suspension lift) *OEM Fuse Box Cover *OEM Rear Cross Member *OEM 555 Outer Tie Rods *OEM Lower Ball Joints *OEM Lower Control arm Bushings *Refurbished OEM LCA (sandblasted & Painted)
  
• SPC Upper Ball Joint *SPC Upper Control Arm *OEM Upper Perch Bolts (Long Boi's)
  
• PowerStop Rotors *PowerStop Brakes
  
• Refurbished the OEM Calipers.
  
• OME Dakar 2.5" Leaf Springs
  
• Poly OME Bushings
  
• Bilstein 5100 Shocks all Around *OME Front Coils (881's)
  
• SRQ Fab Forged Swaybar Links (Balljoint Design)
  
• Diff Fluid Changed
  
• Rear Diff Breather added
  
• All New Evap and Fuel Lines Ran
  
• Wilwood Brake Proportion Valve Added to the Rear *Front Diff Drops *Carhart Seat Covers *Weathertech Floor Mats
  

Future Plans: *Clutch, Flywheel, Rear Main Seal *Timing Belt and Waterpump *CV Axles *Inner Tie Rods * Steering Rack Bushings
Thanks for Reading!

Yaar Maine 10th maths(basic) ka board exam diya and boy I kid u not Maine poori ncert saal mein 5 baar ki hogi yet mere lag gaye end mein.
So the thing is mein barely pass hone ki kagar pe hu like bpt and mcq finna clutch me or shit to I just neend ki does cbse give grace upto 5 marks or shit coz bhai meri fati hai baaki sab accha gaya(thodha fuck hua hindi but ok) but pass hona hai iss subject mein (maths mera weak hi raha hai since childhood) bus maths mein pass rahu and fir isko computer se replace karunga.
And I am not lying hamare invigilator ne indirectly cheating allow ki thi but bkc kisi ko aa hi nahi raha tha to cheating karane mein bhi dar lag raha tha ki galat ho.
I just wish ki maths mein pass hojau🤞🏻

From the CARFAX looks like the following main services have been done recently with the last owner.
1.Drive Belts/ Transmission Fluid/ Air Filer Replacement (03/2024) 2. Front Break pads (03/2023) 3. Rear Break Pads (06/2021) 4. Tires Replaced (05/2020) 5. Battery Replaced (05/2019)
Along with multiple check ups listed.
2008 Honda CR-V at 150k miles with an asking price is $7995. Is there anything else to look out for while test driving/ buying? As well as maintenance missing? I feel like it’s pretty solid compared to some other cars I’ve seen haha.

Would like to know your guys thoughts on this vehicle. I have been looking for over a month now for a SUV and everything is just so overpriced. This one is a bit overpriced i feel but somewhat lower mileage. I will have to get the transmission fluid changed and the timing belt changed too. Owner is firm on price(sorry for weird markups, wasn't sure about the policy for Facebook posts)
https://preview.redd.it/b9kcq6btq00d1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=41c473ab307552848286ca6b21eedf1a922ebe74
https://preview.redd.it/4cwdgu8qq00d1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=bccf9e3d0054b44485261d42696989edb59a8202
https://preview.redd.it/hbmq9gwqq00d1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=f84c65c9fd89567aa884bcf9ef5bc7e776a90957