Knights Of The Black

jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
blackwa said:
Interesting article on the shutdowns from a Powerplay perspective, https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteMahon/comments/3v6rsl/warning_do_not_use_sirius_systems_or_founders/. A little background on my experience as well, I serve in ALD in one of the groups that attends to maintaining favourable governance within ALD Spheres. I therefore have a good idea how I would use UA's as a weapon in Powerplay, and to be clear I never would and neither would those in the groups I work with.

So my thoughts on the list of affected systems and a possible Powerplay dimension to them.
1) Most of the shut downs are occurring in systems with little to no relevance to Powerplay. If Powerplay groups start using UA's as weapons, then they will focus on Control Systems and HQ Systems and only a couple of systems in the list in the article qualify as being one of those.
2) To affect Powerplay an Enemy Faction would need to get sufficient UA's to cause a shutdown into every starport and outpost in that system. It seems unlikely to me that any Control or HQ Systems have Black Markets in all of their installations, so this does not, at first glance, seem to be an effective Powerplay tactic. Having checked neither Sol or Rhea could be shutdown just using UA's, so Powerplay groups would be unlikely to even start. Arawere does have another Outpost and that does have a Black Market. I admit that if that Outpost goes down as well, then that will be worrying.
3) Another question to answer is does a shutdown stop you using the Powerplay Contacts option in the Starport menu? It might, I honestly don't know. What do people think? As the option appears under Contacts then if you are unable to hand in Bounties in a shutdown system, then this might affect Powerplay.
4) Finally I cannot imagine that FDev would permit all of the Starports and Outposts in a Control or HQ System to be shut down. Powerplay, as much as I enjoy it, has enough problems without allowing that to happen as well.

For the reasons listed above I don't believe that the Powerplay factions will start using UA's as weapons, but I would be interested in hearing other people's thoughts on this.
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You make several excellent points, and if you don't mind I'd like to post your points in the UA Mystery Thread (or you can post there, either way I feel your post is very relevant to what we're discussing and trying to figure out).

1. I've noticed this as well.
2. When you put it like that, using UAs in powerplay does seem impractical.
3. I do believe contacts are still available in shut down stations. I'll look further into this to confirm.
4. This may be why FD limited UA sales to the black market (for the most part, at least).

These are certainly things worth considering. Excellent critical thinking on this, blackwa.


UPDATE:

I wanted to post a GalNet article I'm considering to submit. Due to the nature of the article, I wanted to get feedback from my fellow Knights. Do you think the proposed actions goes too far? Not far enough?

The Knights of the Black have released a statement today concerning the Canonn’s claim that there is a positive correlation between recent station malfunctions and Unknown Artefacts being sold on those stations’ black market.


“We have sufficient reason to believe that the Canonn’s observations are correct. While we agree that commanders should stop selling UAs to any and all stations, it may be unreasonable to expect that due to the value and intrigue of these objects.”


Instead, the Knights insist that commanders should draw the line at the capital systems of the three major galactic factions.


“Alioth, Achenar, and Sol should be absolutely off limits. We need not remind everyone that Unknown Artefacts are considered illegal to possess in most systems. If any more stations in those three systems shut down, we will begin patrols in those systems to make sure ships with UAs do not make it to their destinations. We will not tolerate those who would intentionally risk the safety of the human race for personal or political gain.”
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Silmar

Silmar
I am happy for you to post those points in the UA Thread. It gives the Knights better promotion if you do it, so go ahead :). Please also feel free to tidy up any of the wording if you wish.

With regards to point 3, the second comment down in this thread, https://np.reddit.com/r/kumocrew/comments/3v9xag/warning_do_not_use_sirius_systems_or_founders/, indicates that the PP menu will still work in a station when it is shutdown. So the use of UA's in Powerplay looks to only have some nuisance value to me. As fun as some folks may find that, none of the Powerplay Factions have the time to devote to such an activity when there is no real benefit to it. So we won't see any long term, organised use of UA's by the Powerplay Factions.

I like the article but I am not sure about the last paragraph. I like the intention behind it and the writing style, it is something we should be doing as it fits with our ethos. Also I agree that the Canonn call for a stop to the trade will not work, but I suppose the Canonn have to try. The publicity for the Knights would be nice, but I am unsure as to how effectively we could enforce any measures at the moment. Perhaps an alteration to the last paragraph to state that we will begin patrols if any more stations shutdown and we will issue a call for likeminded commanders to join us if that happens?
 

jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
blackwa said:
I am happy for you to post those points in the UA Thread. It gives the Knights better promotion if you do it, so go ahead :). Please also feel free to tidy up any of the wording if you wish.

With regards to point 3, the second comment down in this thread, https://np.reddit.com/r/kumocrew/comments/3v9xag/warning_do_not_use_sirius_systems_or_founders/, indicates that the PP menu will still work in a station when it is shutdown. So the use of UA's in Powerplay looks to only have some nuisance value to me. As fun as some folks may find that, none of the Powerplay Factions have the time to devote to such an activity when there is no real benefit to it. So we won't see any long term, organised use of UA's by the Powerplay Factions.

I like the article but I am not sure about the last paragraph. I like the intention behind it and the writing style, it is something we should be doing as it fits with our ethos. Also I agree that the Canonn call for a stop to the trade will not work, but I suppose the Canonn have to try. The publicity for the Knights would be nice, but I am unsure as to how effectively we could enforce any measures at the moment. Perhaps an alteration to the last paragraph to state that we will begin patrols if any more stations shutdown and we will issue a call for likeminded commanders to join us if that happens?
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I'd rep you again for this if I could. I like how practical your thinking is.

I'll also be sure to post your points in the UA thread in a bit. I'd like to see what they have to say about it.

About the article- I feel the same way. I re-read it today a couple of times and it comes off too aggressive. Plus you're right about the effectiveness of the patrols. I still do want to make a statement on patrolling even though it wouldn't be terribly effective in practice. But I'll re-write it sometime tonight keeping your comments in mind. What you suggest would probably be more effective.

Thanks for the input, blackwa :)

UPDATE

Here's the new draft of the Galnet Article:

The Knights of the Black have released a statement today concerning the Canonn’s claim that there is a positive correlation between recent station malfunctions and Unknown Artefacts being sold on those stations’ black markets.

“We have sufficient reason to believe that the Canonn’s observations are correct. While we agree that commanders should stop selling UAs to any and all stations, it may be unreasonable to expect that due to the value and intrigue of these objects.”

Instead, the Knights insist that commanders should draw the line at the capital systems of the three major galactic factions.

“Alioth, Achenar, and Sol should be absolutely off limits. We need not remind everyone that the Unknown Artefacts are considered illegal to possess in most places. If any more stations shut down within those three systems, we will begin patrols in those systems to scan and identify ships that are carrying Unknown Artefacts. And, in that event, we will call upon like-minded commanders and groups to join us in patrolling and protecting these most critical of systems. We will not tolerate those who would intentionally risk the safety of the human race for personal or political gain.”
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jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
ATTENTION

I need an email address from each member of the group so I can send out group notifications more easily. You can only message 5 people at a time here in the forums, so I can't easily send notifications to everyone. Just PM me your email address. BTW I don't intend to send many notifications. Maybe something once every 1-2 weeks. So no need to worry about me flooding your inbox lol

Thanks.
 

Spruxxx

Spruxxx
Hello all, the group and its ethos sound great, count me in. Hope I can be of some use to the group - if so, CMDR Spruxxx at your service!

I'm a combat pilot first and explorer second, but community goals, groups, and the deeper plots are naturally much more interesting than grinding haz and conflict zones. I typically fly shorter range ships like the Vulture and FAS, but considering adding a long range ASP dedicated to mystery hunting...I planned to start gathering UAs this week, but in the light of recent events, perhaps that's not such a smart move..

Meanwhile, happy to continue to focus on the bubble. I'm not PP-affiliated and have good relationships with the major factions. I've been reading much of the Canonn's discoveries with interest, and was on the verge of joining them. But glad to see that the Knights, whom I first discovered on Galnet some time ago, exist as well!

Until we meet, stay safe in the black...

PS Despite my lack of UA experience, I can say that I have been interdicted by Thargoids from witchspace. They attacked immediately, and so a desparate self-defence was my only choice. I tried to focus on the mothership, but there were too many drones, and alas, my Cobra MK III was ill-prepared for such ferocity...especially as I was eight. Long live the BBC Micro Model B 32k :D
 

jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
Spruxxx said:
Hello all, the group and its ethos sound great, count me in. Hope I can be of some use to the group - if so, CMDR Spruxxx at your service!

I'm a combat pilot first and explorer second, but community goals, groups, and the deeper plots are naturally much more interesting than grinding haz and conflict zones. I typically fly shorter range ships like the Vulture and FAS, but considering adding a long range ASP dedicated to mystery hunting...I planned to start gathering UAs this week, but in the light of recent events, perhaps that's not such a smart move..

Meanwhile, happy to continue to focus on the bubble. I'm not PP-affiliated and have good relationships with the major factions. I've been reading much of the Canonn's discoveries with interest, and was on the verge of joining them. But glad to see that the Knights, whom I first discovered on Galnet some time ago, exist as well!

Until we meet, stay safe in the black...

PS Despite my lack of UA experience, I can say that I have been interdicted by Thargoids from witchspace. They attacked immediately, and so a desparate self-defence was my only choice. I tried to focus on the mothership, but there were too many drones, and alas, my Cobra MK III was ill-prepared for such ferocity...especially as I was eight. Long live the BBC Micro Model B 32k :D
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Welcome to the Knights, Spruxxx. Remember that you can be a part of other groups while in KotB (unless one of those other groups states that you can't join different groups, which would be between you and that other group ;) ).

Also keep in mind that you get to choose how you contribute to the Knights. You can be solely an explorer, venturing 20,000ly into the black. You can be a combat pilot (bounty hunting or war). Or you can switch it up depending on how you want to serve or how you could best serve the group's interests at the moment. So if you're out exploring the core, don't worry about missing one of our operations in the bubble. Ultimately, we'll need a wide variety of commanders so no profession is outright denied.

Again, thanks for joining and I look forward to working with you :) (got your message too and thanks!)


OP UPDATED. New stuff in green.
 
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Telonos

T
Thanks for the invite and for the welcome, I'm looking forward to working with everyone. :) I've been trying to find a good station to run missions and get situated from (still a noob, just trying to earn enough credits for some more ships and equipment. So far I have purchased an eagle for bounty hunting purposes, but still working on getting it outfitted properly), so I will make my way to Diaguandri. As good a place to be as any, I suppose!
 

Spruxxx

Spruxxx
jpaulwilson1982 said:
Welcome to the Knights, Spruxxx. Remember that you can be a part of other groups while in KotB (unless one of those other groups states that you can't join different groups, which would be between you and that other group ;) ).

Also keep in mind that you get to choose how you contribute to the Knights. You can be solely an explorer, venturing 20,000ly into the black. You can be a combat pilot (bounty hunting or war). Or you can switch it up depending on how you want to serve or how you could best serve the group's interests at the moment. So if you're out exploring the core, don't worry about missing one of our operations in the bubble. Ultimately, we'll need a wide variety of commanders so no profession is outright denied.

Again, thanks for joining and I look forward to working with you :) (got your message too and thanks!)


OP UPDATED. New stuff in green.
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No worries, thank you for the welcome! Indeed, I'll switch roles as needed and still considering joining or working with the Canonn - being across both groups would be beneficial.

On that note, one thought, and sorry if this has been discussed already (Engin registration sent!) - the Canonn are organising a mass exploration of Merope's moons when Horizons goes live with all CMDRs invited, and it's certain that there will be further progression on the UA storyline in some form: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=197389.

Makes sense for those of us with Horizons to be present where possible? We should co-ordinate with them and ensure that the expedition code for contact is widely agreed, just in case - with potentially hundreds or thousands of CMDRs involved in the search, things could get kinda chaotic otherwise :cool:

An interesting question to consider - for whatever non-human contact eventually occurs (not necessarily Thargoid by the sounds of it, and I bet FD may surprise us), how do the devs plan to handle it? Surely not just with an AI spawned invasion, that would be a total anti-climax. I hope they pull all the stops out, with devs / secret players acting in the role of the 'other side' on first contact. In which case, perhaps they will put us collectively to the test and see how we respond, for better or worse? It may determine the future of human space, and so we should tread carefully...then again, maybe I'm overthinking it :)
 

jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
Jack Tripper said:
Sign me up!

Forum Name: Jack Tripper
In-Game Name: CMDR LuckyJack

o7
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Welcome to the Knights, Jack. I'll add your name to the members' list soon.

Telonos said:
Thanks for the invite and for the welcome, I'm looking forward to working with everyone. :) I've been trying to find a good station to run missions and get situated from (still a noob, just trying to earn enough credits for some more ships and equipment. So far I have purchased an eagle for bounty hunting purposes, but still working on getting it outfitted properly), so I will make my way to Diaguandri. As good a place to be as any, I suppose!
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Note that Diaguandri is not our "home system". For now it's just a base to congregate at for any missions we may carry out in that region. And indeed if you're out that way its a great system for modules and hardpoints.

Spruxxx said:
No worries, thank you for the welcome! Indeed, I'll switch roles as needed and still considering joining or working with the Canonn - being across both groups would be beneficial.

On that note, one thought, and sorry if this has been discussed already (Engin registration sent!) - the Canonn are organising a mass exploration of Merope's moons when Horizons goes live with all CMDRs invited, and it's certain that there will be further progression on the UA storyline in some form: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=197389.

Makes sense for those of us with Horizons to be present where possible? We should co-ordinate with them and ensure that the expedition code for contact is widely agreed, just in case - with potentially hundreds or thousands of CMDRs involved in the search, things could get kinda chaotic otherwise :cool:

An interesting question to consider - for whatever non-human contact eventually occurs (not necessarily Thargoid by the sounds of it, and I bet FD may surprise us), how do the devs plan to handle it? Surely not just with an AI spawned invasion, that would be a total anti-climax. I hope they pull all the stops out, with devs / secret players acting in the role of the 'other side' on first contact. In which case, perhaps they will put us collectively to the test and see how we respond, for better or worse? It may determine the future of human space, and so we should tread carefully...then again, maybe I'm overthinking it :)
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I remember one Knight who stated they'd be participating in the mission to Merope. I want to but I'm not sure if I'll be available in order to meet up with a group and go there. I can probably make it happen but I'm hesitant to say I'll absolutely be there at this point. So anyone who wants to participate in that mission is definitely allowed to do so. I may speak to the Canonn to see if we can turn this into a joint venture since any discovery of alien objects or clues about the UAs will be just as important for us as it is for them.

And the way the devs will handle the whole alien contact thing will probably comprise of more hints released over a period of time. It could be a new object, new UA behavior or a new ability to interact with something. For the most part I'm convinced it'll just be a gated series of events. Like when Horizons releases, I'm sure there will be something important to find in one of Merope's landable moons or planets. But there may only be that one thing, and we would have to wait another week or two before the next clue or objective is released by Frontier. Some things may be unlocked upon accomplishing some type of secret goal like delivering 10,000 UAs to a certain station. Or if the UA is actually the cause of station malfunctions, there may be CGs where we have to take a certain commodity to the effected stations to save them, then maybe the next step in that plot will become available.

I'm not sure how our behavior toward alien ships will effect their status will humanity. There will surely be renegades looking to pirate some aliens or just to kill them for the fun of it, or to stir up trouble and drama. So I'm not entirely sure how that will be handled yet.


And BTW, I'll be tinkering with our Engine site and Reddit tonight. Any applications and necessary permissions will be given soon. Thanks for being patient with me.
 
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Silmar

Silmar
I just wanted to bring this thread to the Knights attention. https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteOne/comments/3vtknz/psa_a_security_warning_to_all_visitors_to_wolf/.

It seems our Xbox cousins are taking things in a worrying direction in terms of using UA's as weapons. As a weapon of Powerplay they are ineffective, but if you are wanting to target a specific Minor Faction and that Faction has a Black Market, then they may be an effective weapon. There are however some unknowns the biggest of which will be whether or not FDev will allow anything to happen if a trigger is reached?

Do we know if any reports of malfunctions have come out of Wolf 1301?
 
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jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
blackwa said:
I just wanted to bring this thread to the Knights attention. https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteOne/comments/3vtknz/psa_a_security_warning_to_all_visitors_to_wolf/.

It seems our Xbox cousins are taking things in a worrying direction in terms of using UA's as weapons. As a weapon of Powerplay they are ineffective, but if you are wanting to target a specific Minor Faction and that Faction has a Black Market, then they may be an effective weapon. There are however some unknowns the biggest of which will be whether or not FDev will allow anything to happen if a trigger is reached?

Do we know if any reports of malfunctions have come out of Wolf 1301?
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I'll be sure to check that system out tonight. Too bad we can work with them. It would make for a nice little story arc for the Knights.

Update: Article posted on local GalNets in Sol, Alioth, and Achenar. Article is here.
 

Silmar

Silmar
OK the Canonn will be surveying Merope once Horizons drops on the 15th. I for one intend to take part and it would be good to meet up with other Knights there at some point :). The Canonn will be organizing things in the UA Thread, but we can organise a meet up here?

Another couple of things I was thinking of doing after the Merope survey and over the next month or so are:
1) Head over to the closest permit sector, which I think is Regor, and have a poke around to see if there is anything interesting there. There is a chance that some of these permit sectors will start to see things happening as the storyline develops, but we won't know unless we keep an eye on them. I need to check, but I think Regor Sector is about 1000ly out of the Bubble.
2) Take a look at some of the possible locations where SS1 may have crashed, within about 70ly of Azaleach, and see if there is anything in those systems. More details are here, https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=177389&highlight=ss1.

Basically a lot of looking at planets and stars that may turn up nothing but should be fun anyway :). Of course it all goes out of the window if the Canonn find something at Merope.
 
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jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
blackwa said:
OK the Canonn will be surveying Merope once Horizons drops on the 15th. I for one intend to take part and it would be good to meet up with other Knights there at some point :). The Canonn will be organizing things in the UA Thread, but we can organise a meet up here?

Another couple of things I was thinking of doing after the Merope survey and over the next month or so are:
1) Head over to the closest permit sector, which I think is Regor, and have a poke around to see if there is anything interesting there. There is a chance that some of these permit sectors will start to see things happening as the storyline develops, but we won't know unless we keep an eye on them. I need to check, but I think Regor Sector is about 1000ly out of the Bubble.
2) Take a look at some of the possible locations where SS1 may have crashed, within about 70ly of Azaleach, and see if there is anything in those systems. More details are here, https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=177389&highlight=ss1.

Basically a lot of looking at planets and stars that may turn up nothing but should be fun anyway :). Of course it all goes out of the window if the Canonn find something at Merope.
Click to expand...

Yeah definitely feel free to team up and participate in whatever you think will help us to achieve our goals. I'd set up an expedition myself but I'm unsure if I'll be able to attend at this time. But if anyone else can participate in the Merope survey then by all means do so, and you can definitely use this thread to organize with other Knights. The thread is here for all of us :)

And I'm planning on looking at the SS1 route again too. Got an experiment in mind. Probably won't work. Almost Back to the Future type of stuff lol Just gotta finish my flux capacitor ;)

Thanks for the thoughts and info, blackwa. Keep up the great work.
 

Spruxxx

Spruxxx
jpaulwilson1982 said:
Yeah definitely feel free to team up and participate in whatever you think will help us to achieve our goals. I'd set up an expedition myself but I'm unsure if I'll be able to attend at this time. But if anyone else can participate in the Merope survey then by all means do so, and you can definitely use this thread to organize with other Knights. The thread is here for all of us :)

And I'm planning on looking at the SS1 route again too. Got an experiment in mind. Probably won't work. Almost Back to the Future type of stuff lol Just gotta finish my flux capacitor ;)

Thanks for the thoughts and info, blackwa. Keep up the great work.
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Thanks blackwa and JPW. I'll make my way to Merope asap but unlikely to be there by tomorrow eve. Plus I need a suitably long range ship and some surface landing practice, as I don't have the beta! An ASP seems the best affordable bet and I haven't tried one yet, long overdue. Might head to 109 Piscium or similar for the 15% ship and module discount (I reserve the right to be stingy).

Had some thoughts on strategy for scenarios in remote systems (eg deploying long-range vs fully combat ready ships, location of bases for upgrade / repair / rearm etc etc). I will expound later!

Good luck with the experiment, don't forget to set the speed to 88c
 

jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
Zomoros said:
Add me too!
CMDR Name: Zomoros

Currently working on outfitting my Asp for a long exploration trip after the launch of Horizons.
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Welcome to the Knights of the Black, Zomoros. Be warned that you'll be getting into something deep if a recent GalNet article I proposed gets posted on GalNet in-game. But it should make for great fun :D

Spruxxx said:
Thanks blackwa and JPW. I'll make my way to Merope asap but unlikely to be there by tomorrow eve. Plus I need a suitably long range ship and some surface landing practice, as I don't have the beta! An ASP seems the best affordable bet and I haven't tried one yet, long overdue. Might head to 109 Piscium or similar for the 15% ship and module discount (I reserve the right to be stingy).

Had some thoughts on strategy for scenarios in remote systems (eg deploying long-range vs fully combat ready ships, location of bases for upgrade / repair / rearm etc etc). I will expound later!

Good luck with the experiment, don't forget to set the speed to 88c
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Thanks for taking the group seriously and considering its strategic needs. I'll be posting some information concerning this pretty soon. That way we'll be able to compare notes and come up with the best strategies :)

And I'll be sure to go exactly 88c, but I think I'll need a lot more than 1.41 gigawatts ;)


BTW I posted a GalNet article in the Players News thread. Don't know if it will be published on GalNet in-game, but if it is published it'll be groundbreaking.

Proposed article is linked here!

Lastly, I'll be assembling the lore of the group somewhere public. This other article won't be published as a GalNet article, but I was given confirmation that if I post the story somewhere it can be publicly viewed, Frontier will provide a link to that story in their weekly newsletter. I'm thinking that I'll use the public KotB website for the lore we publicly release.

Everything that's happened over the past several days has been extremely promising for the future of our group. I really feel like we're getting somewhere, we just have to keep at it.

Thanks to everyone for the help and support. Couldn't do it without you folks :)

Knights, ride forth...
 
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jpaulwilson1982

jpaulwilson1982
UPDATE

I spent the evening updating our public website at http://knightsoftheblack.weebly.com/

The style has changed, and a new page was added featuring the lore of our group. This collection of Knights lore will grow steadily. I'll be sure to post here whenever a new story or GalNet article is available.

Also updated OP with links to our lore page.
 
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