View allAll Photos Tagged encryption
... I also cannot decipher the clever encryption I had written down! Fujifilm X100F plus a cable shutter release.
The Tower Windmill of Gronsveld is the southernmost windmill in The Netherlands. Built between 1618 and 1623 it's one of five such tower mills in the country and it still functions as a grist mill.
The village of Gronsveld just to the south of Maastricht in the Limburg language is called Groéselt, of which other forms are Grousselt or Grossvelt. It is said that 'Gronsveld' derives from an incorrect reading of the double-s in the original name. In older times the second 's' was written and printed to look like an 'f', hence Grousf(v)eld etc. The 'n' apparently references the 'n' of 'gro(e)n' (=green), said to describe the surrounding green fields.
'Coding' is especially appropriate to this place. Due to Covid-19 I couldn't visit the parish church to view the tomb of count Josse Maximilaan van Bronckhorst (1598-1662). Count Josse invented the so-called Gronsfeld cypher, a widely used encryption scheme for writing coded communications. He developed it from the Vigenère-scheme which derives from Giovanni Battista Bellaso's (1505-?) system of 1553. As far as I know, the attribution to 'Gronsveld' was first made by Gaspar Schott (1608-1666) in his Magia universalis. On the internet you will often/usually find incorrect attribution to a later Bronckhorst of the mid eighteenth century.
This cypher was used well into the nineteenth century, notably for readers of romantic travel fantasies in the books by great Jules Verne (1828-1905). As a lad I'd skipped over those references, but now I know!
Flit jimmies the latch on the skylight and lowers herself down using the latest technology in heist and hacker ware. She cracks the password in less than two minutes; these corporate junkies aren't as smart as their finely pressed suits would make them look, she carefully types in the name of the company and the year, all lower case... bingo.
After cracking the encryption codes and shoving her finger
into the usb drive, she downloads years of hidden secrets, passwords and gains access to the digital key to the wall safe.
She dumps what she can on the desk and takes the unmarked loot, shoving the stacks of bills into her dufflebag before reeling back up and out of the unit a few hundred thousand euros richer.
--
FEATURE
[LAB737] Hermes Headset L
[LAB737] Locust MK-III (Gunmetal) @Secret Affair
CREDITS
Addams // Dr. Addams Boots
*Bolson / Tattoo - Hort (*Appliers* Maitreya/Slink)
{dollle*} 081 Ripped Crop Cami - Black (FitMesh_XS)
.ID. Light Sensitive/Bloodshot - Ice
KITJA - Nile Pants GREY [sus. shadow] FM (Maitreya Lara) @Uber
KITJA - Nile Shirt BLACK [sus. shadow] FM (Maitreya Lara) @Uber
KITJA - Nile Suspender FM (Maitreya Lara) @Uber
[ kunst ] - Navigator watch
[ kunst ] - Wire ring (left)
little bones. Break @Uber
Maitreya Mesh Body - Lara V3.3
[MANDALA] Stretched ears Omimi Tunnel (Hole_size_5/L)
[NeurolaB Inc.] EV3 ANDROID Hand (R) (8 Poses) 1.5
[NikotiN] Crooked Cigarette - Nextgen
.random.Matter. - Taint Septum - Gold
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands V2.1 - L - Relaxed
(Yummy) Strange and Unusual Necklace - Gold
Imagine a dystopian potential future in which the smart fridges in our kitchens could share information about their owners' dietary choices with health insurers. (well you don't need to imagine it - it's here).
Way back in 1999, Scott McNealy, who co-founded US computer firm Sun Microsystems, famously told a group of analysts and reporters: "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it."
Spend any time with the cybersecurity community and you will almost certainly hear someone tell you we may have more privacy controls than ever, but we also have less privacy.
BBC World Service
Published 4 March 2026
TikTok will not introduce end-to-end encryption (E2EE) - the controversial privacy feature used by nearly all its rivals - arguing it makes users less safe.
E2EE means only the sender and recipient of a direct message can view its contents, making it the most secure form of communication available to the general public.
Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and X have embraced it because they say their priority is maximising user privacy.
Modern life - - - - in reality Governments don't want you have any privacy. But they want it.
Honiton, Devon, UK.
Seen at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. Thinking its encryption was "unbreakable", Hitler and the High Command of the German war effort used the Twelve-Wheel Lorenz Cipher Machine to encrypt their messages. Much more difficult to crack than the Enigma machine (for the Lorenz offered trillions of encryption variants) its cipher was broken in 1942 already. Leica M8, Voigtlaender NC 35/1.4.
It's an ordinary cholla by Joshua Tree National Park standards but it caught my attention. People in the Park were frendlier than usual. The clouds had dropped a very light rain on patches of Los Angeles then made their way out here to the Mojave, continuing the practice. I watched in case they commanded a 2-mile trot back to the pavement. Beware of desert hubris.
People resembling Abercrombe and Fitch models were talking loudly in a non-decodable Slavic langauge. There were framing bits but no usable content. "They are speaking in AES," (advanced encryption standard) a radio technician coworker of mine used to say.
The Cactus Wrens in my neighborhood never run out of enthusiasm for strolling across the spines on these things. Others look at displays on their phones. I sip coffee and doom scroll the Cactus Wrens. They might be eating the ants in my yard. I'd like to encourage that. Whenever a wren portrait is attempted, they vanish into the cholla's innards and I get the same, ordinary photo you see here.
Journalism grade image.
Please do not copy this photo for any reason.
Jessie sez:
"Oh dearie me! I has just finished Brushtail Mousie's annual financial accounts and it makes for some serious reading.
Because of the enormously successful initial public offering of her new Duck-Quack Banknote (counterfeit of course), the accounts are showing unprecedented levels of taxable profit.
Not sure what to do for the best now. If I sign off these accounts as they stand at the moment, poor old Taxman-Cat will go ballistic and send round the bailiffs. I FINKS the best thing to do is to encrypt and save them to mi' cat-laptop hard-drive, delete the encryption password and then create a new set of accounts entitled "I is as poor as a little church mousie!"
That should do the trick and throw Taxman-Cat off the scent of all that dosh (Gazillions in this case).
I FINKS that's what you could describe as creative accounting?"
The day you encrypted your brain and forgot the password!
In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorised parties can decipher a ciphertext back to plaintext and access the original information.
"Way back in the day" I wrote some encryption software - CompuServe was a big part of the internet when we still called it the "world wide web" and they refused to host the files as the USA considered encryption as a weapon.
How times have changed.
Leica M8, Voigtlaender NC 35/1.4. Stephen Kettle's slate sculpture of Alan Turing at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. Bletchley Park during WWII was Britain's codebreaking and intelligence centre. Turing was an extremely gifted mathematician, cryptanalyst and one of the fathers of computer science and AI. During the war years, he worked at Bletchley Park, improved the (pre-war) Polish Bomba decryption computer and, in 1941, was responsible for breaking the encryption of the German Enigma machine (seen here as part of the sculpture) that was used by the German navy.
or is communication power? i had a fleeting image in my head of michelangelo's 'creation of adam' when i saw this entanglement of cables and lines.
when you nod or grunt 'hello' to a passing somebody you expect an 'ack' in return. a simple head flic or a murmur of recognition. when this is not forthcoming, you usually subvocally growl and move on.
humans have been polluting the electromagnetic space of our galactic suburb since the mid-1930s with our radio and TV transmissions, and have been actually listening for our neighbors to call us since the 1970s. So far, no one has come knocking on our door. Why not?
Our transmissions, traveling at the speed of light, have already crossed into the yards of several of our closest stellar neighbors. If those systems had intelligent life with basic mastery of electromagnetism we could had received an RSVP by now. i have a suspicion why no one is talking with us.
they are scared to talk with us.
our electromagnetic effulsia is interstellar police tape. imagine you are alone on a desolate backroad, would you enter a white trash trailer if you heard screams and bangs and shouts and guns going off? of course not. neither should they respond to us.
additionally, on the theme of communication and information it is my belief that one day the internet will disappear. It will just vanish. You, I, they…whoever will wake up and the internet will be gone – and no one will think twice about its absence – in fact, that’s how it will disappear.
The global infrastructure of routers and switches will still be there, rocketing data around to and fro, but the internet will evaporate from our consciousness. It will become another utility, like the phone system, municipal water works, or the national electrical grid. And at the point it achieves its ubiquity, it will also become invisible. Turn a faucet, get water. Flip a switch, get electricity. Pick up a phone, get a dial tone. Click on your...whatever, and you get information. Data doesnt care what sort of contraption you pour it through...a wifi pda, a networked gaming console, a satellite radio receiver - its all the same to 1's and 0's; a classic example of the triumph of message over medium.
more thoughts on communication...
what is the best mode of secret communication? while plaintext can be scrambled, transmorgified, and shrouded in highly exotic mathematical arcanae, you can rightly assume that every information event - every Alice Bob transaction, no matter how well encrypted, is open to traffic analysis. US Navy cryptanalysts deteremined that the islette of Midway was an impending Japanese target by analyzing their coded traffic. how and when you say something can be as relevant as what you say. so, Alice and Bob are left with one of three options to cover their communication tracks: leave no information, leave diverting information, or flood the environment with an overload of information.
the most effective method is arguably to leave a superabundance of information. leaving no information and diverting information will provide insights - poker face bluffing can only work a handful of times before it can be interpreted. having no discernable pattern leaves your opponent at a loss to determine means, intent, or scope. blow the signal-to-noise ratio asymptotic.
Washington DC is still digesting a serious security breach at the heart of the Trump administration.
It's the story of how a journalist - the Atlantic magazine's Jeffrey Goldberg - was added to a Signal platform messaging group which apparently included Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, in addition to National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
CIA director denies air strike chat leak was major mistake.
Asked if the incident was a "huge mistake", CIA Director Ratcliffe replies: "No."
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is backing National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, who accidentally added a journalist to the chat leading to the story.
Signal messaging is a secure, open-source messaging app that prioritises privacy, using end-to-end encryption to ensure that only the sender and recipient can read messages, and even Signal itself cannot access the content.
(Note to American National security advisor - end to end encryption makes no difference if the wrong people are at the other end. I can't believe that non of them noticed who was in the chat group).
JUNE 1-25
Page: www.access-sl.com/cyber-fair-by-access
One of my Favourite Events, I love the style (cyberpunk, robotic, technologic), and the vibes <3 DON'T MISS IT <3
A German military encryption device, the most advanced of its time, so much so that solving it lead to the invention of the computer.
My 24th build against Jimmy in my Iron Builder.
Enjoy!
David
//Recovered data from the battle of Leethum//
//Pvt. Dan'Fer's log//
The Rebels are relentless. It's a daily routine, fight, run, fight, and hide. I have blaster bolt imprints all over my armor. Theres small cracks in the armor that keep poking me when I climb the rocks . I was shot in the leg when I was climbing and fell off. I tended to it but it it didn't do much. I see something in the distance but can't make it out. I called out and it started to come my way. It was an imperial transport. The trooper in red hopped off and scanned the area. The other one walked over to me.
"get up trooper."
//data encryption failed//
//data end//
Flit types quicker than the human eye would fully register, she's cracking the stolen corporate document by translating over 40 billion lines of code layered on top of each other in an intricate weave of misinformation. The numbers, letters and symbols encrypted here are in the process of being eliminated, excerps of useless filler are almost like a game of pac man to her computer brain, it's stimulating her entertainment drives.
15 minutes into a partial cloaked as a syntax error she locates a folder labelled:
F.L.I.T
Functional Life Imitation Technology.
She quickly uploads a copy into her harddrive after rerouting the embedded tracking device.
--
CREDITS
*Bolson / Tattoo - Hort (*Appliers* Maitreya/Slink)
Blueberry - Asia - Leather Jacket (Maitreya fitted)
{co*ffee} VirtuaMask GigerStyle
DRD - Geekmania - Neckwrap (RARE)
DRD - Post Apocalytpic Nerd - Rings Black
[flit ink] Scarface Eyesore // Slink Visage Applier
[flit ink] Battle Scars // Torso Tattoo (raw, healing, faded)
.ID. Light Sensitive/Bloodshot - Ice
little bones. Break @Uber
Maitreya Mesh Body - Lara V3.3
[MANDALA] Stretched ears Omimi Tunnel (Hole_size_5/L)
[NeurolaB Inc.] EV3 ANDROID Hand (R) (8 Poses) 1.5
[NikotiN] Classic Joint - Nextgen (Blunt Wrap)
.random.Matter. - Taint Septum - Gold
Slink Avatar Enhancement Hands V2.1 - L - Relaxed
T. Throat Mic
SCENE
[DBy] Central Sound Server
floorplan. locker bookcase / grey
[ kunst ] - Engel chair / black - gold [PG] - C
xin + toro // gun racks + RARE
xin + toro // hacking station
Literally.
For the black and white theme I thought I should shoot an object from a time when black and white was predominant.
These are the rotors from a three-rotor German Enigma cryptography machine owned by the United States National Cryptographic Museum and displayed at the National Security Administration booth at the RSA security conference in San Francisco, California.
Converted to black and white with the Ilford FP4 Plus preset in Digikam.
Strobist: Single 430EXII RT held just outside the frame above the rotors.
While the tractor beam guides the container in between the mandibles, the YT-1450 ship computer calculates the small thruster moves necessary to position the container in the precise location for the automatic docking procedure to start. The XL standard container flashes "all clear" and the ship starts interfacing. The container has it's own fuel tank, thrusters and onboard computer. The ship and the container exchange control sequences and encryption keys. Everything is in order. Docking is complete. The Nadir is once again ready to haul some precious cargo across the galaxy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iv'e been thinking about building the Millenium Falcon ferrying a huge container for several years. Those mandibles had to be used for something right? Then the Rebrick FREIGHTER WARS contest came along and I started thinking about building a YT Corellian Freighter. A few days in to the process I was reminded of the container hauling MF, and I realized I had a great opportunity here. Well, it's not the MF, but it's a YT Freighter of my own design hauling a huge container.
I've been building this ship this entire month. Sometimes I had to take breaks from building the Nadir, then I built the container instead. There is a fairly intricate Technic structure inside the container and there are four connection points that connect to the Nadir. It's actually one of the most sturdy SHIPs I've built. (see swoosh video)
Length: 105 studs
While the tractor beam guides the container in between the mandibles, the YT-1450 ship computer calculates the small thruster moves necessary to position the container in the precise location for the automatic docking procedure to start. The XL standard container flashes "all clear" and the ship starts interfacing. The container has it's own fuel tank, thrusters and onboard computer. The ship and the container exchange control sequences and encryption keys. Everything is in order. Docking is complete. The Nadir is once again ready to haul some precious cargo across the galaxy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iv'e been thinking about building the Millenium Falcon ferrying a huge container for several years. Those mandibles had to be used for something right? Then the Rebrick FREIGHTER WARS contest came along and I started thinking about building a YT Corellian Freighter. A few days in to the process I was reminded of the container hauling MF, and I realized I had a great opportunity here. Well, it's not the MF, but it's a YT Freighter of my own design hauling a huge container.
I've been building this ship this entire month. Sometimes I had to take breaks from building the Nadir, then I built the container instead. There is a fairly intricate Technic structure inside the container and there are four connection points that connect to the Nadir. It's actually one of the most sturdy SHIPs I've built. (see swoosh video)
Length: 105 studs
All content posted in the Blogtrepreneur Flickr Photostream is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
Please provide attribution via a link to howtostartablogonline.net
You get convenient access to this free, original, computer data hacker image in exchange for a simple attribution.
CYBER Fair March 4th-24th Designer Application!
◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣
This Fair is strictly themed: Cyberpunk, Cyber, Tech, Sci-fi, Robotic Designs, Futuristic, cybernetic, bionic.
www.access-sl.com/cyber-fair-by-access
We will be searching for specific Designers - experienced in this theme.
Do not apply if this is not your style, please!
Applications close January 20th
Link here: forms.gle/jkjDSeXBLBaJLpGR6
organized by ACCESS
◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣◥◣
Black and white image of the plugboard, keyboard, indicator lights and encryption setting wheels of a rare German World War II 'Enigma' machine at Bletchley Park.
January 2017
Once upon a time, a lock and key was the only way to secure and protect information, files and details. But with the evolution of technology all can now be stored with codes and encryptions. HMM!
Axiom10 limped forward on only two of its four drives, chasing the faint ion wake of the Corogin battlecruiser—the one that had seized the escape pod carrying Voltar and Kayla. But at half speed, there was no hope of overtaking the Corogins.
K’hall’s voice cut across the bridge. “What does it take to unlock the subspace transmitter?”
The communications technician answered, not looking away from his screen. “Voltar entered an unknown lockout code. The system is locked up tight and is blocking all incoming and outgoing messages.”
“Can you break the code?”
“I have not been successful. The lockout code uses a form of phase-shifting encryption. Without the code the only solution is to wipe and reload the entire comm program. Comm will be down for at least two cyclics.”
K’hall exhaled sharply. “It is useless now. Just do it!”
The dyno lift hissed open and Bext strode across the deck.
“Commander—I have inspected mercury plasma accelerators two and four.” Both are beyond repair. They were damaged when the crew tried to restart them in reverse. We will need a space dock and new compressors.”
K’hall’s jaw tightened. He stood in silence for a beat then pulled Bext aside and spoke, his voice low. “We cannot turn back. We must reach Aion. What about the experimental drive?”
A faint smile touched Bext’s face. “The Axiotemporal Collapse Drive does not rely on the damaged compressors. I must run a full diagnostic check to make sure nothing was tampered with.
K’hall hesitated the spoke quietly. “Tampered with? Explain. What caused the drive failure we experienced?”
“Lines of code were deleted from the drive matrix source… the deleted code contained the fail-safe programming that should have prevented activation of the Axiotemporal Collapse Drive while the AF drives were engaged.”
K’hall’s eyes narrowed. “Deleted code? Explain.”
“Someone tampered with the source code,” Bext said. “Partial segments of a block of code had been removed. The work was very specific… the program was sabotaged. The crew has not been trained on the new drive, and the fail-safe programming would have prevented the problem we experienced”
A low growl escaped K’hall. “So, this was all planned.” He straightened. “Run the system check. Make certain everything is in order. If we are going to reach Aion we have no choice but to use the experimental drive.”
He crossed over to the sensor array. “Lieutenant… Ke’zem? Is that correct?”
The young officer stiffened. “Yes, sir—it is Ke’zam.”
“Ke’zam, have you tracked the Corogin ship long enough to project its destination.”
Ke’zam’s fingers danced across the console. “Yes, sir. There is a 98.7% probability their trajectory leads to Aion.”
K’hall murmured. almost to himself, “Voltar… old friend… I have misjudged you. What game are you playing?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can view Quantum Fold episodes in order from the beginning in the album titled, "Quantum Fold":
www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720326169...
You can view Quantum Fold II episodes in order from the beginning in the album titled, "Quantum Fold II":
www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720331313...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is an A.I. image generated using my SL avi.
I hope my pictures make you smile ♥
If you like what you see, please toss me a fav and follow me. I love seeing your comments. They make my day and keep me motivated!
I love my followers. You guys totally ROCK! ♥♥
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As the 21st century dawned, an emerging generation of artists expanded the performance of self-fashioning, in which dress functions as a signifier of disidentification with the dominant social orders; their aim was to formulate modes of expression that affirm communal identity. In an age when issues of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and sovereignty dominate national and geopolitical discourse, textiles, "as dense and multivalent sites of encryption," may, art historian Julia Bryan-Wilson argues, "alert others to our sense of self and signal our attempt to collectively belong."
In 2003 Liz Collins created "Pride Dress", in collaboration with designer Gary Graham, as part of a series of representations of the seven deadly sins. Today, the tattered gown with its torn and distressed flags precariously tacked together transcends its initial signification to reverberate with the roiling gender wars that rend the fabric of American society.
ARENT YOU EXCITED ABOUT CYBER FAIR??!!!
We can't wait!!!
Save the date - June 1st, 12:00 pm slt CYBER Fair open doors!!
See you there for another Amazing cyber round ♥♥♥
Check out my blog: www.fotoinusgrobler.com
Follow on Instagram @fotoinusgrobler
I took one of my old, broken hard drives and opened it to photograph. Opening a broken computer hard drive is not as easy as you would think.
After opening the hard drive I placed the hard drive under a softbox in order to make the reflection clean. It is very important to make sure none of the photography equipment is in the reflection of the very reflective disc. I added a shoot through umbrella to the left and a reflector to the right to get a nice reflection of the magnetic read/write head, on the disc.
I used a small aperture to get most of the hard drive in focus. I set my focus on the magnetic head to get that part of the hard drive sharp.
In Adobe Camera Raw I increased the shadows and decreased the highlights to get an almost HDR effect. This enhanced the reflections.
This photo was taken in February 2014 with a Canon 5D MkIII and TAMRON SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD Macro lens.
Camera Settings: f/16.0, 1/160 seconds and ISO 200
German cipher machine that was used to encrypt/decrypt messages during WW II .
In 1940, the Allies succeeded in fully deciphering Wehrmacht messages for the first time. From 1941 to 1944, large-scale decryption became operational and proved decisive in the war.
That device is on display in German Museum Munich.
It took longer to do this picture then any of my other pieces, eight hours, and it was nearly impossible to come up with a tittle for it, but it is actually a plant that resembles elephant ears, but when I was done encrypting all the faces it came across as something resembling a witches cauldron, not that that’s what I was shooting for. Gainesville Florida 8/14/15
Mainframe: "Encryption in progress. Approximately 13 minutes until completion"
Majin: "Are you in yet??"
Ling: "Been in, just waiting on the key to code..."
fubuki's mind astounding words for the day - inspire your friends, confound your enemies:
ansatz - processing a differential equation by guessing and narrowing solutions. "all criminal investigations are ansatz processes, driven by hunches and gut feelings - trying to slot the most amount of evidence into a pre-conceived model."
ekpyrotic - disastrous conflagration or conflict. "humorouslessly, the PhD student described his advisor's outbursts and tantrums as ekpyrotic."
uayeb: mayan calendar period of evil-bearing days. "she was a relic of my uayeb days. i think of her now with all the warmth that a surgical table inspires."
didyaknow:
robert 'oops honey, i left my gun in the restaurant' blake was the little mexican boy in Treasure of the Sierra Madre who sold Humprhrey Bogart the crucial lottery ticket.
which segues into this nugget of a story:
i remember back in the day when i was working construction in virginia. i would drop a few dollars on the lottery now and then over lunch. winning the big lottery is the american wet dream. a dollar down and you could be a multi-millionaire. one time over lunch i was filling out the random pick six slot on my ticket when this grizzled bleary-eyed scrounge taps my pencil. i glare up at him, but he is nonplussed.
'you doin' it all wrong...dose numbers aint never gonna win dis week.'
i look at him blankly, rapidly trying to translate his gnarled virginia patois into standard english.
'what numbers? i'm doing a random pick. its as good as any other numbers'
he guffaws and pulls out a worn black leather notepad held together with newspaper rubberbands, unfolds it on the ticket stand, and opens it to a worn page in the middle.
'the last random pick winner was in 1997, june, weds...since then there have been [mumble mumble] winners who picked their exact numbers. what you need to understand [mumble mumble] is that the lottery is not really random. they just want you to think its random. certain things follow certain things, you gotta figure out how.'
i bit my lip. started thinking about random number generation theory and encryption seeds. 'it might not be 100% random, but its more random than most else.'
'nah....look here' and he flips over to a couple pages of matrices of weeks and winning numbers, combination circled and diagrammed with subnotation to cross-reference other matrices. then the last series of pages were winning numbers most commonly selected - broken down by month, day of the lottery selection, and (go figure) the general weather pattern of the day. he picks up a pencil, licks the nub, and grabs a handful of tickets. 'random numbers wont win when winning aint random.'
The Survivors RPG Tournament 3 Mission on Mimban- Round 2
///LOG ENTRY\\\
The Imperial base has been ruined, and the Imperials have scattered! Now my mission is to stealthily enter the building, trying to find the data vault at the center and to retrieve plans of a new Death Star- The Imperials really do have one mindset, don’t they? I will additionally be bringing a droid to get by the encryption, and hopefully some luck- there may still be threats within the stronghold...
\\\LOG END///
The enormous stronghold is eerily silent, as all the personnel were evacuated or killed. Ordin is able to navigate the crumbling fortress with less ease than he is used to, as much of the surrounding base is either sunken into the ground, or is covered with molten metal and fire. Thankfully the astromech droid can fly a few feet above the ground, though it needs to return to the surface after a few seconds.
“I think we’re close. Tired, buddy?” Ordin says to the droid, not loud enough for any Imperials to hear. The droid quietly chirps in response. The data vault should be in the center of the base, and Ordin has been travelling with the droid for a while. As they continue deeper, the structure of the base becomes more crude, with many mechanical parts jutting out of the floor and walls. Eventually they reach the dead center- a cavernous round room with an enormous fissure in the ground, where the base collapsed on itself after the bomb squad took care of the supports. In the middle of the chasm is a still-standing data tower with a weakened bridge leading to it.
“Alright, do your thing.” Ordin says. The droid scoots up to a barely functioning computer module and gets to work, hacking into the data center with a tool-tipped appendage. After a minute or so, the data tower hums, and a physical file pops out onto the surface, presumably the new Death Star plans. Ordin makes his way to the bridge, making sure not to slip into the chasm below. He reaches the data tower and is ready to get the file…
“Blast!” Ordin exclaims, and it’s evident that there’s another person on the tower. It’s a heavily injured rebel, presumably one of the Survivors that cleaned out the remnants of the base. “Hahah. I knew someone would come here,” the rebel mutters, “I knew someone would come for the plans. It’s all just part of another sick scheme.” Ordin tries to help him up. “What are you doing here?” he questions, but gets interrupted.
“I KILLED A STORMTROOPER!” The rebel cries. “We fought, and when I overcame him, he begged for his life! And then… I ended him! I ended him! I see things clearly now! The Empire, The Survivors, there’s no difference! We just plot against each other, trying again and again to kill those on the other side! There’s no use!” The rebel shakes, and draws something from behind him. It’s a thermal detonator.
Ordin gets hit with some panic, but tries to stay calm. “No. That’s not right. There is a difference. The Empire only wants to create order through fear. The warlords are corrupt, and they don’t believe in freedom. We have to stop the Empire by any means.” As Ordin says it, he feels some slight conflict within- is what he said completely true? The rebel keeps shaking, then speaks. “What are you planning to do to the millions on that station out there? Blow them up? Kill them all? I can’t let you get that file.”
Thinking fast, Ordin grabs the file and dashes down the bridge. He can feel the heat of the explosion as the detonator goes off, blowing the data tower to pieces and causing the platform to collapse. Ordin makes it to the main building just in time, as the bridge collapses beneath him.
///LOG ENTRY\\\
Another successful mission for The Survivors- the Imperials have one again been defeated, and I made it out alive, with my fellow Survivors celebrating my return. However, after this venture, I wonder- is there truly a cost to the damage we’ve been doing to the Empire?
\\\LOG END///
Thanks so much for letting me be a part of this tournament, I had a really great time getting to make the builds and stories! Secondly, thanks to Carculio and Director KW for being in this with me, they are really great builders so make sure to follow them! Comments are appreciated by the way!
-MWBricks
Note for THEE_BRICKOLOGIST: If the background is not perfect then I may be able to redo it before the due date, it wouldn't be too much of a pain.