Traders Tale II - Chapter 2 -completed

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Mercenary
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Traders Tale II - Chapter 2 -completed

Post by Mercenary » Tue, 15. Apr 03, 21:42

Completed chapter after the ============

Merc 8)
------------------------------------------------------
Split Conspiracy

Feran t’Gnht was passively very angry. He hated being manipulated and the years of almost complete autonomy, to do as he pleased, looked to be coming to an end. Once again he found himself in the private meeting chambers of the Split Head Council Twh k’Trrg and the master assassin was enjoying watching Ferans discomfort.

“Of course it is a great honour that your family above many others has been selected to accept the Argons generous offer in the name of peace.” Twh commented, his eyes glinting in the half light. The room richly decorated with the trophies of many campaigns over several generations.

“If you say so,” Feran replied curtly.

“You have been a thorn in the side of the Argon for many years and I’m sure you will continue to be one in the future,” Twhs’ thin cruel lips moved into something resembling a shallow smile.

“I take it you are not in favour of peace?” Feran asked.

“This peace, as you put it, is convenient to us,” Twh replied softly, “Who knows why the ancients reveal new gates to us. The fact they have given us access to a new species is,” He paused, “Interesting. What we may learn from them is unknown, however early attempts to make contact have been catastrophic.”

Feran remained silent waiting for Twh to continue.

“The Argon seem to have been allowed access to the sectors but we don’t know how or why,” Twh looked perplexed for a moment.

“Perhaps it’s a trap?” Feran commented.

Twh glanced across, “Spread the enemy thin and then break the supply chain and destroy them,” He paused for a moment, “That is the thought of the council also. But we must be certain that there have been no secret deals in exchange for technology.”

“Do you think they have?” Feran asked on cue.

“There is nothing to lead us to believe so,” Twh replied, “But back to the matter in hand, the Argon consider their offer to allow each of the races an opportunity to build stations in the new sectors an act of new found relations and reconciliation between the races.”

Feran paused for a moment and then asked, “I take it you do not?” His eyes narrowed slightly, as the last thing he was going to do was trust the man in front of him, but circumstances forced him to be here.

“The leading families have agreed that we need more information. The station you deploy will allow our agents free reign to explore the sectors, in the name of trade, unobserved.” Twh replied curtly.

The muscles in Ferans shoulders tensed and the fingers of his one good left hand flexed and clenched into a fist, as the half light glinted off the blue steel of his right arm.

Twh allowed himself another cruel smile. “Look at this as an opportunity to restore your families name.”

Feran quietly snarled, he had been blamed for the failure to capture the alien ship which had led to the disgrace of his family name. Now with this briefing the Head Councillor meant for him to put his own people in a death trap which would cost him millions of credits.

“Animals snarl Feran! You are Split, be proud!” Twh responded cuttingly.

“So far I have heard nothing about compensation!” Feran demanded.

“What makes you think there will be some?” Twh asked abruptly.

Feran glanced around as he glanced into the shadows looking for any sign of other assassins, “And what makes you think that I’ll accept?”

“If you don’t then you won’t be leaving this room alive!” Twh stated with a strong degree of certainty, pausing briefly so the message could take an opportunity to sink in, “And if you do then I will ensure the name of your family is restored.”

“The only reason my families name is in disgrace is because of your incompetence!” Feran retorted harshly.

It was Twhs’ turn to tense up, a flicker of anger sparked within his eyes, “Do you dare to challenge me?” The voice was softly spoken, more of a whisper.

Feran moved slowly, as a predator studying its prey. The hard edged confidence of the Split councillor made him reflect that he was the prey. “Challenge you, now why would I want to do that?” Feran replied with an edge of caution.

“Perhaps you think you can take me!” Twh replied threateningly and then calmed himself to say, “But save your anger. You will need it where you’re going.”

“I will conduct my business remotely,” Feran responded quietly.

“Hmmm, I feel it fair to mention that the Argon have awarded a station contract to a young trader,” He paused for effect as he watched Feran stop and focus his attention, “Tor Grall will be in the outer sectors. I’m sure you remember him, the boy you should have killed.”

There was the sound of steel rasping as the blade retained in Ferans’ steel right arm slid out, the muscles in his face tightening as he clenched his jaw and slowly lifted the blade and stared at it intently. “The meeting will be a pleasure.” He commented gently.

Twh afforded himself a slightly lopsided smile his eyes glinting. “A number of ships from our exulted navy will be taking part in numerous scheduled manoeuvres in the sector Ghinn’s Escape many will remain, including a number of our latest rapid response Corvettes.”

“But when will they be allowed to intervene?” Feran asked as he reset the blade.

“When we judge the enemy to have been sufficiently weakened,” Twh replied, his unbroken gaze never once leaving Feran.

“After the sectors have been massacred you mean!” Feran retorted bitterly.

“If that’s what it takes!” Twh added, “But I’m sure you will have made good your own escape.”

“And do I get free reign to choose the type of factory I set up?” Feran asked.

“No weapons, missiles or anything else that may appear hostile to the Khaak,” Twh replied.

“I’m not surprised no one else wanted this,” Feran paused momentarily, having guessed one reason why he had been chosen, “Honour.”

“I like to think of it as a test of your support for the Split High Council and to me,” Twh replied with a hint of malice.

Ferans’ eyes narrowed slightly but the rest of his face remained emotionless, “Then with your permission I will leave and go prepare,” His voice had a certain tension in it that barely hid his feeling of anger.

Twh dismissed him with a slight gesture of his hand.

Feran turned and swept his way out of the chamber to his ship in great long strides barely giving a moment for doors to slide open wide enough to allow him to pass. Security, station staff and visitors parted to allow him clear passage whilst avoiding eye contact.

On board his Mamba he gave the pilot only one command, “Get me back to base, maximum speed!”


Two days had passed from when Creed had first arrived on the station and Tor was feeling the effect. He was trying to concentrate much of his time to scanning station reports, if only to try and ignore the hangover after yet another session in the Colossus Bar.

This morning he had found himself in the company of the same waitress he had woken up with the previous morning, and at this exact moment he was struggling to remember her name. He wondered if Creed had taken some pleasure in leading him astray, as he put it, from his initial goal of not fraternizing with the employees. Unfortunately it would not have been so bad if he had not been so blind drunk that he could remember the end of the evening, and more to the point how he ended up where he did. However he was not going to object to waking up in the nice warm embrace of an attractive young lady.

He paused and sighed a moment as he reflected on the image conjured in his minds eye.

The drink on the desk was known as the ‘recovery mix’ a small cocktail of ingredients that would settle the stomach and ease the hangover. What was in it Tor did not ask as Creed had provided the recipe, but the flavour and texture was not to Tors’ palette. Yet the effect was definitely very uplifting so Tor was happy to suffer the initial taste.

He spent a moment reviewing the number of station employees which had risen to a level where everything now began to function seamlessly. Even so, he was still a few employees short to meet the requirements of the ‘Robot to Employee Charter.’ A piece of legislative bureaucracy that defined the ratio of employees to robots required for any manufacturing industry, thus guaranteeing that the general population would not become redundant in favour of pure automation.

He typed a brief memo to the recruiting team to find another twenty employees. The process was painfully slow, once his own people had sorted and vetted all new employee applications they were then handed over to Creeds organisation for more ‘discreet’ investigation. Tor checked the accounts as this service was not without some considerable cost.

A comm channel opened, “Sir there’s a Mr Belign here to see you!”

“Send him in!” Tor replied. He picked up the drink and carefully sipped at the liquid.

Caran strode into the office and approached Tors’ desk. Tor continued to sip his drink without looking up and then closed the console before glancing towards the new arrival.

“Mr Grall!” Caran commented.

“Mr Belign!” Tor responded in his usual perfunctory business style.

“Is Creed here?” Caran asked abruptly.

“Right behind you,” Creed answered quietly as he ambled in.

“Excellent,” Caran did not turn around.

“Take a seat gentlemen and I will just arrange for some refreshments to be brought in,” Tor indicated to the Argnu Hide sofas. Inside he felt this meeting may take some time and felt he should be comfortable. Opening a comm to reception he said, “Belea, please can you arrange to have a variety of drinks and snacks sent in.”

“Yes sir,” The female voice replied.

“Thanks,” Tor closed the com, and stood up.

Creed had slumped himself down and stretched out whilst Caran remained standing. “Comfortable?” Caran asked.

“Very,” Creed answered casually with a smile. “So tell us why we’re all here?”

Tor settled himself onto another of the sofas and relaxed with his drink, but gave Caran a look of curiosity.

The big Argon agent glanced at both men, “The new administration has opened up the outer sectors for development, the first phase is to set up a network of trading stations. To this end the guilds have been offered contracts to encourage investment in the outer regions.” Caran paused briefly, “This includes a contract to you as the newest entrepreneur in the core sectors.”

“I have had the official communication,” Tor confirmed.

“The president has decided that a heavy military presence will send the wrong message to the Khaak so the defensive fleet will be four new Corvette class ships and two M-two class destroyers,” Caran glanced at Tor then Creed.

“And what’s that going to stop?” Creed asked. His expression was serious.

“Very little, however there is a rapid response force equipped with jumpdrives on standby, four M1 battlecruisers, six additional M-two destroyers and six interplanetary battlecruisers with full fighter compliments,” Caran affirmed.

Tor relaxed a little but Creed looked bothered, however he made no comment.

“As far as we are aware the Khaak do not have jumpdrive capability so will have to sweep through the sectors, this will give ample time for the response fleet to mobilize and intercept!” Caran commented with an upbeat confidence.

Tor suddenly felt that he was in some sort of tactical military briefing something he had no background in, however he felt comforted about the support being mentioned.

“Okay thanks for confidence boost, but that doesn’t tell us where we fit in?” Creed observed casually.

“I was getting to that!” Caran replied softly. “Tor, you have been offered a station contract by the President,” He paused momentarily feeling the need to add something encouraging, “Congratulations on receiving this honour.”

Tor simply gave a brief nod of acknowledgement, preferring to wait and hear what Caran had to say. Creed simply glanced over to Tor but remained silently solemn.

“I take it you will accept this offer?” Caran made the question sound more like a statement.

“Perhaps, I’m still awaiting some details as to the nature of the contract.” Tor replied coolly.

“And what details would those be?” Caran asked slowly.

“Sector positioning, available resources for production and factory selection. Also maximum allowed factory fighter compliment to combat piracy,” Tor responded quickly.

Caran looked at him and nodded slowly, “All important details for the factory and I think I might have some of those details for you,” He pressed a few buttons on his datapad and handed it across to Tor for him to study. Tor glanced at the list of new sectors and scrolled down the list of factory applications designated approved.

“I see some Teladi, Boron, and Paranid stations here. Are the Split deploying anything?” Tor asked and then handed over the pad to Creed whose expression had not changed. The mercenary also scanned quickly down the list.

“They have been awarded a few contracts but we have only had one confirmed acceptance. They have not submitted the station application yet so I can’t give you a definite answer,” Caran replied. “Which nicely leads me to ask you what type of station you were looking to deploy?”

“I was thinking of a lasertower factory,” Tor replied.

“Hmmm, not exactly a cheap facility and if the application is approved will make it an obvious first target to any enemy hostility,” Caran commented, “Needless to say you have to construct weapons and shields subsystems for the towers and if the Presidential dictate is read to the letter then I think your application will be rejected.”

“Then I will have to fall back to deploying an asteroid deep mining facility,” Tor commented.

“A good choice, but I’m not sure what the market for ore or silicon is going to be,” Caran commented.

“I see there are several Crystal Fabs listed. They will need silicon,” Creed spoke up as he handed the datapad back to Caran. “How about lending us a jumpdrive capable TL? It would save us considerable inconvenience with having to drag a construction kit through all those sectors.”

“If you can find anyone willing to risk going out there,” Carans tone reflected his scepticism.

“What can you tell us about the Khaak?” Creed asked abruptly.

Caran paused a moment whilst he considered how to reply, “Very little,” Then added almost absent minded, “But we’ve been deterred from establishing a military base of operations since the Split encounter.”

“Split encounter? What Split encounter?” Tor asked hurriedly, feeling he had missed out on some old news.

A slight look of concern touched Carans’ expression, and with a slight hesitation he realised he had spoken his thought out loud. This information was old but still highly classified whilst the strategic planners worked to find an effective counter offensive.

“You’ve slipped up there! Perhaps you should let Tor know or do you want me to enlighten him?” Creed now had a roguish smile. It was the first time he had ever heard Caran make a mistake, and although smiling knew that something was seriously concerning the Argon agent enough that he was not concentrating enough on the briefing.

Caran refocused his attention and asked sharply. “And how would you know about it?” His gaze fixed on the mercenary.

“I have my sources,” Creed commented but gave no suggestion in his manner that he would elaborate further.

Tor could see Caran deciding on his next move. After a brief moment he simply shrugged his shoulders and ignored the slip. “The Khaak are still very much a mystery to us. Early attempts at contact have been somewhat unsuccessful! What they are like culturally and physically no one has established. It would be true to say that so far they have shown a certain amount of hostility to intruders in their space.”

Tor half expected Creed to say something or make a tell tale gesture as he glanced across, but the mercenary remained impassive, the look on his face no longer smiling but bore a serious expression. He for one decided to keep a mental note of the incident but not to press his luck in finding out more.

“How do you tell if they are going to attack rather than ask to trade?” Tor asked. He was getting the feeling that things needed to be a whole lot less complicated, but first if he did encounter them then the last thing he wanted to do was accidentally start a war with a preemptive strike due to a slight miscommunication.

Creed glanced across to Caran and raised an eyebrow curious as to how the big Argon was going to answer the question.

“From the few reports we have the Khaak swarm when they start to attack,” Caran answered.

Tor had expected more, and after a moment he returned to the question. “And how am I supposed to know when they are being friendly?”

“I don’t think anyone has found that out yet,” Creed observed quietly, “Isn’t that right Caran?”

Carans jaw tensed slightly, this briefing was not going to plan. His intent had just been to inform Tor where to put his station and dedicate a security area to agency personnel. Also to list out what security was required for his people. Creed was to then give details of pilots he would supply for the stations defense, also which and how many fighters should be obtained. For a moment he rebuked himself for not having anticipated questions concerning the Khaak, and that they now side tracked him.

“That’s right,” Caran answered.

Tor smiled and sat back in a relaxed pose, “Then I guess we’ll be finding out soon enough and let’s hope they are friendly.”

Carans eyes narrowed and flicked between the two men suspecting some type of conspiracy between them. “As you know the sectors have not received an official name designation at this time! The current naming convention allocates them from X-one to X-twenty we feel there are more to be discovered but they may be located in other regions of the solar systems.”

Creed moved on the seat uneasily and although did not speak his thoughts aloud definitely looked uncomfortable with that information. Tor however had, for once, not observed this reaction.

Caran continued regardless, “The sector identified as tactically the most useful is sector X-seven, which is where I want you to deploy your station.”

“From my analysis of the new region then militarily the most defendable sector is X-four!” Creed cut in, “X-seven is good for intelligence gathering but is too remote from Getsu Fune if there is any disruption in the coms.”

For a moment Tor thought that Caran was going to argue the point but to his surprise he simply asked, “Explain?” and took a seat leaving Creed to continue the briefing.

“Sector X-seven is centrally disposed within the grid of new sectors but it has too many gates and no natural obstacles to speak of which would help to impair an attack.” Creed pulled out his own personal pad. Tor made a mental note that it was a technical datapad similar to the one that used to house the personality chip and AI he called Sweety. He linked it into a small table top holo-projector and switched on.

A brief moment passed before the ionization field had gained full strength to provide a clear and full display of the galactic map floating above the table. Creed punched a few commands into the pad and the image displayed the layout and gates for the new sectors out of Getsu Fune in a grid pattern. He took a moment to highlight sector X-seven, the sector image still devoid of stations slowly rotated.

“As you can see there are six gates in this sector branching out. Only one will help to get you back to Boron Controlled Space but you’ll have to cross three sectors to reach Getsu Fune.”

He manipulated the datapad and returned to the galactic map of the area, “The three sectors you would have to cross are also linked to others, which means a pre-emptive strike in sector X-five will cut off any available retreat,” He paused for a moment as Tors’ secretary delivered a hover tray laden with refreshments.

“Thanks Belea,” Tor commented, and she gave a brief smile before disappearing out of the room.

“Sector X-four,” The holo-map moved in and pulled up a slowly rotating image of the sector. “Is asteroid rich and only has two gates. One linked to sector X-five with a direct corridor through sector X-two back to Getsu Fune,” Creed paused for a moment and picked up a drink from the tray and took a sip, “However it is not without problems. There will be a certain amount of disruption to standard coms traffic due to a Nebula cloud which covers a good proportion of the asteroid belt.”

“Perfect cover for a Khaak war fleet,” Caran observed.

“Perfect cover for any number of things,” Creed added, “Including a silicon mine if push came to shove.”

“What do you mean?” Tor asked.

“Think about it Tor! Strap some manoeuvre engines on a lump of rock and push yourself into the nebula if trouble does appear,” Creed commented lightly.

“What about the other asteroids?” Tor asked somewhat nervous of the idea.

“You’ll be hitting rock with shielded rock,” Creed replied frankly and smiled, “But I wouldn’t advise it, so hopefully you’ll have enough time to plot a course if the need should arise.”

“Hang on guys, I appreciate all this info but all I’m hearing is how to protect myself in the case of attack. If it’s really that dangerous, I don’t think I’m interested in going,” Tor quickly aired his reservations and looked at the other two.

Caran glanced across at Creed as if he was somewhat responsible for the comment, but Creed was looking at Tor in pensive thought. He opened his mouth to say something but Creed abruptly held his hand up to stop him. For the first time in many years he actually refrained from commenting when indicated to do so by someone not directly his superior.

“The choice is yours Tor,” Creed paused, “But there are thousands of others who will not get this briefing, who will have no idea of what they are potentially getting into and have made no preparations to escape. If and that’s a big ‘if’ things turn bad. Someone like you could make the difference!”

Caran was a little impressed, it had sounded that the mercenary did actually care about life. Something, to Carans’ mind, Creed generally spent his time extinguishing.

Tor also took a moment to reflect on the mercenaries words, not as eloquently put as perhaps a politician would have said, but the message was clear. A dawning realization of the morale dilemma awakened within him and was borne on the wings of bitter resentment towards Caran, “I need a moment to think, but go on with the briefing.”

Creed gave a brief nod, “Of course you could put your station in sector X-seven but if you do then I cannot support the providing of fighter pilots.”

Carans eyes narrowed and he looked far from happy at Creeds final statement. He took a moment to think before replying slowly, “And what if I can get you permission for two stations?”

“Ha, double my exposure to heavy losses! Well thanks for the offer but,” Tor answered quickly and glanced at Creed who did not see the suggestion as foolish as it first appeared.

“It would double your allocation of heavy fighters,” Caran commented earnestly.

“Hang on there, who’s paying for all this additional hardware?” Tor asked loudly, “I’m a businessman and so far you guys are wiping out the balance sheets with your grand ideas but I see no credits flowing in to compensate for the expenditure!”

Creed looked straight at Caran who took a moment to answer, “You will only need to provide a minimal personal force. The number of which is at your own discretion. The service will provide four Elites, six Busters and three recon ships. These will be registered to you and based on the station in X-seven. I have contacts in the Argon Navy who like me are not pleased with the holding back on a greater military presence and will lend a substantial number of fighters to be stationed at your factory.”

Tor now realised why Caran had not objected strongly to Creeds suggestion for station deployment, as he had his own conditions.

“And you’ll be supplying pilots?” Creed asked quietly.

“For those ships, yes,” Caran answered, “I note your objection to the station in X-seven but the fighters I have negotiated need to be station based. The new sectors only have a crude law enforcement system, supply freighters will require an armed escort as piracy is seen to be the second greatest hazard, and this is the role I was hoping your pilots would provide. Of course if Tor can stretch his funds to a second station then so much the better.”

Creed gave a single slow nod and glanced over to Tor. This arrangement still left his people exposed, only now the need to provide pilots was significantly less then he first imagined and they would have additional support, but he still felt deeply uneasy about the choice of location. Even so he decided that, when a suitable time was available, he would take an opportunity to discuss things further with Tor alone. He knew certain secrets within the X-four sector that he was not yet prepared to share with the likes of Caran, things that appeared harmless and needed further investigation.

The feeling that he was already too involved to refuse leapt back to the front of Tors mind. The remainder of the meeting focused on the approved stations already deployed, in construction or still on route to the new sectors.

“Needless to say if you do opt for a silicon mine or crystal fab the Boron shipyard in Ocean of Fantasy will be able to provide these. But preorder, as I understand it they are running low on resources and are having supplies jumped in from the core sectors.” Caran concluded.

“What about some of the legal requirements that we have in the core sectors, do they still apply?” Tor asked.

“Any particular legal requirement you’re thinking about?” Caran asked softly.

“Ones concerning pure automation,” Tor responded.

The big agent relaxed almost expecting Tor to mention other things, “Those have been waived during this establishment phase of the presidential plan.”

Tor was relieved at the news, with everything else to worry him the last problem he wanted to get entangled in was bureaucratic red tape. He glanced across at Creed who had seemingly given up on the briefing and was happily consuming all the snacks on the hover tray.

At this point the meeting seemed to naturally come to a conclusion, but it left Tor with a substantial amount of planning and he was keen to get started. Yet he was a little apprehensive, to his mind Creed had been outflanked by Carans commitment to supply the bulk of the stations fighters. So much so that he wondered if the mercenary pilots Creed would provide were surplus to requirements. However there was some lurking thought that when all was said and done he would need the support of Creed and his mercenaries.

“Looks like we need some lunch,” Caran commented at the sight of the snacks tray.
Last edited by Mercenary on Tue, 1. Jul 03, 22:20, edited 6 times in total.

Adamskini
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Post by Adamskini » Tue, 15. Apr 03, 22:31

weeeeeeeeeeeee \o/
Aug 2000 -> March 2001 - Old Skool Egosoft Forum
March 2001 -> Nov 2002 - THQ forum
Nov 2002 -> now - Current, prettier Egosoft Forum

[anybody remember The Enforcers?!]

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Post by Gandalf The White » Tue, 15. Apr 03, 22:39

Nice one. Keep it coming look forward to more.
some who deserve life receive death. Others who deserve death receive life. Can you give it to them? Don't be eager to deal out death in judgement, for not even the wise can see all ends.

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Post by KiwiNZ » Wed, 16. Apr 03, 01:25

Very nice one! Looks like we are back in business with the Split. One could almost feel sympathy with Feran for being played like a piano :D Considering all the hatred going on there, future will certainly not be boring. :fg:

Looking forward to more!

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Post by Al » Wed, 16. Apr 03, 10:21

Good stuff. Glad to see that that Split are going to get a beating somewhere down the line :D

Al
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SteveMill
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Post by SteveMill » Wed, 16. Apr 03, 12:10

That was a nice scene, atmospheric and concisely informative, perhaps a slight over-use of "free reign" though.

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Post by Mercenary » Wed, 16. Apr 03, 12:45

SteveMill wrote:That was a nice scene, atmospheric and concisely informative, perhaps a slight over-use of "free reign" though.
Good point, I'll see if I can find a more apt expression.

I'm working on trying to get a little bit more character depth and scene setting, try and get that balance between the dark and sinister vs the friendly and hospitable... Adapt the writing style to match the mood and environment.

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Post by Gandalf The White » Wed, 16. Apr 03, 13:08

Well, I found it to be in depth, good detail as well.
some who deserve life receive death. Others who deserve death receive life. Can you give it to them? Don't be eager to deal out death in judgement, for not even the wise can see all ends.

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Post by Moss » Sat, 19. Apr 03, 18:42

Good to be getting to know Feran a little better, I'm getting a picture that a Split, any Split! literaly hates everyone and everything, (makes one wonder how they ever get close enough to each other to continue the race!) seems the deepest compassion you might ever expect from a typical Split would be a quick death! so lovable really arten't they :D

Keep it coming Merc.

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Post by Mercenary » Wed, 23. Apr 03, 22:32

2nd part added...

Taking a bit more time to develop the story, currently have about 38 key moments to map and flesh out which should cover the whole TT2 (or most of), but other things have been getting in the way...


Moss: I think they put aside their differences when they have a common enemy... :D

Merc.
8)

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Post by Adamskini » Wed, 23. Apr 03, 23:23

and another weeeeeeeeeeeeee \o/
Aug 2000 -> March 2001 - Old Skool Egosoft Forum
March 2001 -> Nov 2002 - THQ forum
Nov 2002 -> now - Current, prettier Egosoft Forum

[anybody remember The Enforcers?!]

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Post by crunn » Thu, 24. Apr 03, 00:11

Mercenary wrote:
SteveMill wrote:That was a nice scene, atmospheric and concisely informative, perhaps a slight over-use of "free reign" though.
Good point, I'll see if I can find a more apt expression.
-free reign
-carte blanche
-free hand
-blank cheque
-complete freedom
-full authority
-complete discretion

Don't think any of these are better, but it gives a choice to oscillate.

Anyway, Excellent so far.

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Post by KiwiNZ » Thu, 24. Apr 03, 03:04

Excellent read, Merc.

Now there is the clash in interests between Caran and Creed :D

It will certainly be an interesting development.

found a few typos:

"Argon to Robot Employee Charter" Argon Robot to Employee?

"and let’s hope their friendly" they are

"X seven" X-seven? you put in a dash before ... consitency

"X four!” Creed cut in, “X seven" same here, X-four, X-seven?


Looking forward to the next installment!

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Post by Mercenary » Thu, 24. Apr 03, 09:52

Cheers crunn,

I've changed the master version just not cut the changes in here yet.

KiwiNZ wrote:
found a few typos:

"Argon to Robot Employee Charter" Argon Robot to Employee?

"and let’s hope their friendly" they are

"X seven" X-seven? you put in a dash before ... consitency

"X four!” Creed cut in, “X seven" same here, X-four, X-seven?


Looking forward to the next installment!
Cheers,

Think I'll go for 'Robot to Employee Charter'

modified...

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Post by SteveMill » Thu, 24. Apr 03, 10:49

Keep it coming. :)

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Post by Al » Thu, 24. Apr 03, 11:34

Nice stuff Merc. Keep it coming :)

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x2

Post by Moss » Thu, 24. Apr 03, 14:50

Part two is cool and i'm looking forward to meeting the Khaak in this story (and in game!) tho as yet I just can't imagine them wanting to trade at all, but I guess that will depend on a lot of things and in particular if the other races have anything they want! I just hope Tor's eventual choice of factory is well insured! hehe.

Mercenary
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x3tc

Post by Mercenary » Sun, 27. Apr 03, 22:07

Chapter completed after the ============


Merc.
8)

Adamskini
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x3tc

Post by Adamskini » Sun, 27. Apr 03, 22:45

once more into the breach goes, my little wavey man

\o/
Aug 2000 -> March 2001 - Old Skool Egosoft Forum
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Moss
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x2

Post by Moss » Mon, 28. Apr 03, 01:20

Maneuver engines on a Lump of rock! the lump of rock being a mine I presume, is this artistic licence or an upcoming game feature? either way it sounds like an interesting way to escape trouble eh?

Seems Caran and Creed will get what they want, with the deployment of two stations, with Tor footing much of the bill in a very risky sounding endevour! and what is it that Creed knows about sector X-four?

Cheers Merc an interesting chapter, sets the scene quite nicley I think.

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