[TC] FROM NOTHING, A Rogue's Tale - Book I [COMPLETED]
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Triaxx shall also be posting somethings. I'm trying to be very patient to wait for Ea't's DiD to be finished, but marines take forever.
That's why he's been silent, because I hate trying to keep two time periods of a character straight.
Then it'll be time to start Book 2.
That's why he's been silent, because I hate trying to keep two time periods of a character straight.
Then it'll be time to start Book 2.
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016
The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016
The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain
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Yay! More of Ea'ts misadventures
I've actually fallen very much in love with the Savage Split start Triaxx, some of which can duly be attributed to you. And I can't wait to see more of Ankis war on the 'nids 


Madder than a bastard on Fathers Day
My DiD Stories: Peace(s) of Eight (Inactive) - Way of the Gun [KIA] - Status: Online (Active)
An Illustrated Idiots Guide to CLS
My DiD Stories: Peace(s) of Eight (Inactive) - Way of the Gun [KIA] - Status: Online (Active)
An Illustrated Idiots Guide to CLS
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Guilty as charged.Kirlack wrote:I noticed Malren lurking about the forums yesterday, so Malren, if you're reading I hope my last post was ok by you and Alex too
Loved the post, Kirlack. I have been keeping up with the story, and, as always, waiting patiently for MOAR!
I'm amazed by what this story has become, still loving every minute of it; keep up the good work, folks!

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Cheers all.
First off I'd like to thank each and every one of you reading this for your attention and your patience. I imagine if you've come this far you like what we're doing here and that thought alone makes me feel good. It's good to see the same names continue to show up time and time again in this thread. I've grown to think of many of you as friends. So, without meaning to single anyone out or exclude anyone I'd like to say: Malren it made me feel really good to see your name in the thread again. And Deeparth I think you may just be one of the finest people I've ever been exposed to. You consistently demonstrate some of the best qualities I could ever ask for in a person. I hope you never lose your ideals.
Okay, so, once more I'd like to apologize for the lengthy delay. If it helps know that I'm probably more frustrated with the lack of progress than you are. I know I'm more frustrated with the cause, which is my frequent difficulties with concentration. It's not constant, though. In the middle of the night, when everyone else is asleep and the world is quiet I've been able to get some writing done.
So, thanks to Kirlack for lighting a fire under my backside and getting me going again, and thanks to all of you for continuing to read and to my fellow authors for participating in what has proven to be a hell of a lot of fun. Anyway, without further preamble I give you:
96. Recall
I'm standin' in front of a window lookin' out at a ... at an expanse of stars that I don't recognize. There's a big red gas giant far below my feet and a pretty blue star that is both nearby and the better part of a billion kilometers away. Somethin' about that star echoes in my soul ... even though I don't recognize it either. There's a reflection in the glass in front of me. It's my face but it's also ... not my face. From behind me I hear the voice of a man, and he's obviously disturbed by what I just told him.
"Admiral," he says, and his voice is pensive and fearful, "the Altori won't approve of this."
"I don't care," I snap at him. "Get it done. That little bastard is growing too fast. I want him in my brig. I want that pirate armada of his crippled and I want that bomb factory shut down. So do as I say and let me worry about the Altori."
"Y-Yes ... Admiral."
There's a hiss from behind me as the hatch opens. A moment later the sound repeats itself and I'm alone. I can see the light of that pretty blue star gleamin' off the bright white hull of a nearby ice harvestin' facility and winkin' off an endless stream of what looks like tiny chips of glass driftin' in some wind but are actually the hulls of countless ships in the trade lanes. I lift a glass to my lips and take a sip. I taste the bourbon on my tongue and feel it in my throat as it as I swallow. I take a breath and exhale through my nose. "Welcome to the big leagues, kid," I whisper, almost tenderly. "Too bad you can't stay ..."
I snarled then and ripped the thing off my head, the thing that Legion called a 'cognitive recall device.' It was at that moment communicatin' directly with my nervous system and stimulatin' the parts of my brain responsible for memories and cognitive thinkin'. You're supposed to shut it off and allow it to power down before removin' it and I immediately found out why. A brilliant white pain sizzled across the back of my eyes and the world went sideways just as I was tryin' to stand up. Instead a gettin' to my feet I ended up lyin' on the ground seein' stars.
For a moment all I could do was seeth. I'd been experiencin' Rabeka Giorno's memories. I'd been feelin' what she felt and thinkin' what she thought. I'd been seein' the world through her eyes. Which means I got to actually feel what she felt when she thought of me as if it was my own opinion. It was a blend of contempt and fear and even a strange, grudging respect that I ... that she would never admit to. Yeah. Needless to say the experience was ...
... complicated.
At first all I could feel was rage. It filled my world like a fire bringin' down a buildin'. In that moment it was all there was. It burned through my brain and raged through all the strings of my nerves all the way down to the tips a my toes. Even now I feel like I took a good hit from a high voltage line. Then I couldn't even think and all I wanted in the universe was to have my hands around Rabeka Giorno's throat and my teeth buried in her neck. I wanted to taste her blood in my mouth and feel her die under the onslaught of my rage. Later I found out that I was experiencin' what's referred to as "recall rejection" and that it's a danger whenever someone reviews memories in which they are both the subject and associated with powerful emotions, especially negative ones. It has somethin' to do with the ego experiencin' some kind a fundamental paradox and defendin' itself. Frak if I know. All I know for certain is that I was pissed. If I had actually bothered to educate myself on the thing before pluggin' myself into it I might have been prepared for what I was experiencin' ... and maybe I also wouldn't a torn that thing off my head in the first place ... but I didn't. No, like everyin' else in my life I had to figure it out the hard way.
So there I was with my brain on fire strugglin' to come back to myself through a world of pain and rage when, in a truly convoluted experience of multiple overlappin' personalities, I felt Sensei Shioda show up to help me retake control of my experience. It was a knee jerk reaction for him, actually. The rage triggered a discipline of his that had been perfected over a lifetime and then copied into my nervous system. My attention went to my breathin' and the beat of my heart. My mind seemed to shift into neutral and then all I could think of was the image of cherry blossoms floatin' on the breeze.
Slowly I came back to myself. My heart rate gradually slowed and soon I was able to hear the various sounds of my ship over the screamin' in my head. First I heard the deep, cyclin' hum of the matter / anti-matter engines and then the whisper of the air leavin' the vents overhead. Finally I became aware of the sound of people talkin' out in the galley. It was muted and muffled by the hatch separatin' us but even so I could hear the camaraderie. They were loud and laughin'. It was a good sound and it seemed to bring me home.
So I took one more deep breath and slowly I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the Anarchy Port loomin' out in the night, the stage for the most horrifyin' moments of my life. For a moment I just stared at it, thinkin' of Latasha Seldon and Aaron Slamer ... and how he'd never carry her to bed again. Then I sighed and looked down at my wrist to check the time.
768-06-04 00:16
The boisterous sounds of my crew made sense. A shift had just ended. Those comin' off watch were rowdy and loud. I'd been at it for the better part of the last five hours.
I took another breath and slowly got to my feet. I was hesitant at first, and held on to my desk. My balance was good, though, and other than a splittin' headache and a deeply troubled soul I seemed to be none the worse for wear. I stood there in the dark for a moment, starin' through my reflection at the Pirate AP. Then I sighed again, turned and found one of the bottles behind me. I poured myself two fingers of whiskey and downed it. After a moment I poured myself two more. After downin' those I made my way across the room and left the solitude of my office to step out into my ship.
Gunny t'Kt was standin' beside my door and straightened slightly as I stepped through the hatch. "Gunny, what are you doin'?" I asked him.
He met my eye. "I am guarding the entrance to your quarters, Admiral."
I nodded. "Aye," I said. "I can see that but ... why?"
"Because there is no one else to do it, Admiral."
I stared at him as the meanin' of those words sank in. "You're the only marine on this ship?"
He nodded once.
"Where are Rider and Fisty?"
"Pico Rider and Toki Fisty are still aboard the Tiamat receiving treatment for injuries sustained aboard the Anarchy Port."
I nodded. "Well," I said, "We're currently adrift within the lovin' embrace of both the Ragnarök and the Tiamat's fighter patrols with the Destiny and the Sword of Aggrievance close enough to assist with whatever comes along and you, my friend, have earned yourself some down time so consider this a direct order."
He raised one of his eyebrows just slightly.
"Get some rest," I said. "We're safe and you've bloody well earned it." I clapped him on the shoulder and showed him a thin, if very grateful smile.
Despite lookin' terribly uncomfortable with the order he responded with the ser'kavi and then exhaled. A moment later he headed for the ladder below. As I watched him go I felt the eyes on me. When I looked up three separate faces looked away. Jo Pareii held my gaze. Now I've always thought of Jo as a bit strange. She's always struck me as one of those people that's so smart that they don't quite know how to interact with people. Computers and math problems and other folks that think that way are fine but regular people she's not so good with. Yet of all the people in that galley she was the only one that wasn't afraid to meet my eye and in that moment she reminded me of a child who hadn't learned fear yet. For some reason seein' her stare right back at me made me smile.
"Ensign," I said.
"Admiral," she echoed and smiled back, earnin' her some curious glances from her crewmates.
I saw Gil Nedley lookin' at me, wantin' to ask me if I needed anythin' but I guess my body language told him what he needed to know cuz he just smiled and nodded at me. For some reason right then it actually felt really good to be seen. I don't know. Maybe it had somethin' to do with Rabeka Giorno only considerin' me the sum of a bunch of facts, like a column of numbers that added up to an unpleasant sum. Either way it felt good to look into familiar faces and see myself recognized. After a moment I turned and made my way toward the ladder Gunny had just descended. A moment later I was standin' in front of Gin's compartment. I hit the call button and a moment after that the hatch opened and Gin met my eye.
"Hey," I said.
She lifted an eyebrow at me. "You okay?" She asked. I wasn't expectin' the question and before I could cover with a smile or a grin she'd seen the truth. She smiled at me and reached out to cup my cheek. "You look tired."
"I feel like I've lived a century in the past few days," I said.
"Considering the procedure you underwent when you stayed on the Endless ..."
"What procedure?" I asked, but my smile gave the lie away.
Her eyes narrowed. "Suit yourself, Drake."
"Okay," I relented. "Okay," I said. "How'd you figure it out?"
"Drake I have doctorates in human physiology, neuroscience, and bio-mechanical engineering. I studied neurological imprinting when I was still in college. Overnight you developed skills that take years to learn and decades to master and yet there you were using small joint manipulation to take down a man that not only has decades of practice handling himself he also has at least twenty kilos more mass than you. It wasn't that difficult to see that something had changed. Add to that the additional muscle mass and physical confidence that you've been ..."
"Really?"
"Really what?"
"I have additional muscle mass?"
She laughed at me and shook her head. "Men ..." She held my eye and then nodded. "Yes, Drake. You gained at least a kilo of body mass overnight and since then you've put on several more. I'm surprised you haven't noticed. Don't men normally study themselves looking for ..."
"I wasn't sure if I was imaginin' it or not." I confessed.
She laid a hand on my chest. "You weren't."
"And physical confidence too, huh?"
She just watched me.
I grinned at her. "So it was me handlin' Odin?"
She sighed softly and shook her head. "Back in the Sol system it's a two hundred year old technology, Drake. I knew what I was looking at."
I nodded. Of course.
"Who was it, anyway?" She asked me, cockin' her head to look at me.
I raised my eyebrows.
"The imprint," she said. "Who was it?"
I took a breath. "His name was Sensei Koichi Shioda ..."
"The aquido master?" She said, soundin' surprised. "Huh."
"Huh ... what?"
"It's just ... he was a Buddhist monk and a pacifist. It just seems like a contradictory personality for you. How'd you choose him?"
"Aaah," I stammered, "I didn't. It was Legion's recommendation." She nodded and studied me as she did. After a moment I started to get a little uncomfortable. "Uh, can I come in?" I asked. She smiled a little and shrugged before steppin' out of the way. I stepped past her into the tiny little compartment she occupied. There were three additional racks beside the one she used all still folded up into the wall. At the far end of the room there were twin closets opening off the main compartment. In one was a toilet. In the other was a shower stall barely big enough to stand up in. On the left wall was a tiny sink and on the right were four lockers. The entire space, includin' the washroom facilities, the sink and the lockers was maybe five meters long and less'n half that in width. I couldn't imagine sharin' it with three other people. Yet there were seven other compartments on the ship and in three of 'em that was the arrangement. In fact besides myself Gin was the only other person on the ship that had a compartment all to herself. I'd gotten so spoiled.
I looked back and met her eye. She was standin' close enough for me to smell the shampoo she'd used and smilin' at me like she was readin' my mind. "So," she began, "anything interesting in Admiral Rabeka Giorno's memories?"
I flashed that cocky grin of mine. "You know that's what I love about you, Gin: you're subtle and indirect nature." Her brow furrowed and she looked at me like I'd lost my mind. I exhaled heavily and ran some fingers through my hair. Then I met her eye again. "That was one very scary woman, Gin."
"Yes. She was."
I took another deep breath and let it out heavy. "You know she didn't see people as ... well, people. She only saw what could serve her agenda or stand in the way of it. I don't even think she'd admit it to herself but to Rabeka Giorno the whole universe belonged to her."
Gin nodded. "Yeah," she said, barely more than a whisper. I looked at her and she was lookin' off into the gloom. The pain in her face made me wonder what would it be like to have everything you are, everything you've dreamed of, your future, your hopes and dreams, even your very humanity ... forcibly taken from you? It only took a heartbeat before I realized that I didn't want to know.
"You okay?" I asked her.
She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm glad she's dead."
"Me too," I nodded. "I'll likely spend the better part of the next few weeks goin' through her memories. I like that new tech Legion sent over, although I don't recommend pullin' it off your temples before shuttin' it off ..."
She looked at me with genuine concern. "Oh, you didn't."
I nodded. "I did. I've never been too fond of instruction manuals and didn't bother readin' the one that came with the thing."
She continued to looked worried. "Drake, that can cause seizures. You must have a splitting headache."
I shrugged. "It's subsidin'." I sat down on the edge of her bed. "I like the tech, though. It's a very organic experience. It's a lot like lookin' through your own memories. All I had to do was think of things and allow the connections in her mind to carry me from memory to memory. It was a bit like surfin' in the dark, though. I mean when you're lookin' into your own mind I think most of us know where the road leads. When lookin' through someone else's past it's a bit different, though. I had no idea where the wave was gonna take me and there were a couple times when it felt like I'd been cast upon the rocks."
"How so?"
I shook my head. "You know since the day it happened I've been tryin' to figure out why they came at me. I mean we're pirates. We stole a ship here n' there but never from the terrans. Hell we were even workin' for 'em, and I even went so far as to think we had a good relationship. So I just couldn't fathom the upside in destroyin' a mutually beneficial relationship. Yet that's just what they did. They planted bombs on my ships, killed my people and kidnapped you n me ... and every day since then I've wondered why."
"Did you get your answer?"
I nodded. She didn't say anythin' and after a moment I looked. "It was the porn."
She blinked. "Did you say porn?" She asked. "As in pornography?"
I laughed. "Yeah." I nodded and looked down at my hands. "I pulled this escort gig for the Argon government right around the time I first got my hands on the Destiny. It was shit work, really, and annoyed me to no end at the time. Durin' the whole mess, though, I somehow managed to impress the Terran ambassador I was protectin'. It ended up earnin' me a contact in the Heretic's End orbital defense station. Some time later Malcolm needed to get into terran space to track down a friend and I cashed in that contact. It actually turned out to be a potentially lucrative deal. I mean the work was crap, and the pay was just a few M5 scouts ... one of which is that advanced disco I gave to you ... but the real upside was that I was able to start tradin' in the Sol system, and at the time I thought there was a real future in it. A legitimate future. But aah, durin' one of the first assignments they gave me the Xenon attacked the Sol system, apparently for the first time since Nathan Gunne and the Dragonfyre suckered the Xenon away from Earth and the gate was blown behind 'em."
"I heard about that. You were there?"
"Right smack dab in the middle of it," I said. "It wasn't much, really. Just a bunch of scouts."
"I thought there was a carrier?"
"That was a couple days later. I was there too, even managed to piss the terran off when I hit that J with a couple of nukes. But anyway, the reason I bring up that first assignment is what happened after it was all cleaned up. They wanted to have a look through my ship's sensor data."
She started noddin' then. "I'm guessin' you told 'em to frak off?"
"No. No. I obliged 'em. I mean I was careful. I took the ships memory core offline, isolated the data they wanted and sent it to 'em. Had they simply taken it and been honorable everythin' would a worked out just fine. Instead they tried hackin' through my firewalls to access both my navigational data and personal account information and even though I'd been expectin' it, it still pissed me off."
"I can imagine. What did you do?"
"I had my guys hack into all the porn feeds in the system. Then we encrypted 'em all so they'd look like some tasty secrets and then allowed those geeks at the Saturn Research Facility to upload 'em."
She started to laugh. "So you did tell them to frak off."
It took me a second but when I got it I started to laugh. "Yeah. I guess I did at that. I thought it was a better solution than chuckin' a firestorm at 'em at any rate." My grin faded. "As it turns out, though, the firestorm may have been a better option cuz Giorno didn't find my prank anywhere near as amusin' as I did. I relived the moment she was informed of it in her memories. She remained quiet and calm and reserved. It was a mask she was very comfortable with. Underneath, though, it pissed her off. The audacity, you know? The irreverence of it. The lack of ..." I took a breath and thought about it. "Respect isn't quite the right word. Dread, maybe? Awe. Those might be closer. It infuriated her that I thought I had the right to defend my assets from 'em. Yeah. In that moment she decided that I needed to be taught to 'respect my betters.' That's exactly how the thought crossed her mind, by the way: to respect my betters."
Gin just watched me.
I nodded. "Anyway, from then on I was on her radar, and the more she learned about me the more I offended her. Like I was somethin' nasty she just stepped in. It wasn't hard to do mind you. I'm just about everything she despises all wrapped up in a single package. For starters I'm Argon. The Argon as a whole offend her. In her mind the instant Earth re-established contact with the Argon Federation we were supposed to immediately defer to GEOSS control and turn over all our assets and decision making authority to them. Never mind a thousand years of independent evolution or the fact that it was our ancestors that bailed Earth's bacon out of the fire in the first place ... and by doin' so cut ourselves off from any assistance Terra could have offered us." I shook my head and sighed. "As far as Giorno was concerned we were a Terran colony and needed to recognize that by unconditionally putting our fate in the hands of the Altori. When we didn't ... well, when we didn't as far as she was concerned we had just defined ourselves as rebels and in her mind needed to be put down."
Gin arched an eyebrow at me.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Not much grey area in the good Admiral's thinking. Hell she was even aware a the fact that her expectations weren't reasonable. Aware enough to have lengthy conversations with a lot of very powerful and intelligent people without ever revealin' her true thoughts on the matter at any rate. Yeah she was scary. She was the kind a person who could stand there picturin' the knife in your back while lookin' you straight in the eyes and smilin'. You know I think I'm more afraid of that woman now that she's dead than I ever was when she was alive."
Gin just watched me. "You okay?"
"Hell I don't know," I said and she sat down beside me. "She knew a lot about me, Gin. In many ways she knew more about me than I did." I laughed briefly. "She knew that I was the product of real life sex instead of bein' grown in a lab like a 'civilized' person, and that was NOT a point in my favor, by the way."
"No, I don't imagine it would be."
"She knew that I'd grown up in Old City and had been exposed to 'illicit and illegal activities' pretty much my whole life. She knew my Ma died of a drug overdose and that she'd been usin' since shortly after I was born. That in turn prompted some very ungenerous opinions regardin' my Ma's need for escape."
Gin wrapped an arm around my waist and put her chin on my shoulder.
"She knew about Leo and that he was a small time leg breaker for the crooks but she also knew who my real father was. His full name was Scion Athan Drakhar and he'd been born on some no-name minin' colony at the edge of Argon Federation Space. She knew he was an assassin and a pirate." I took a breath and looked at her. "You know it's actually really frakkin' disturbin' to see yourself from someone else's point of view." I said. "I've done it twice now and both times I've come away profoundly unsettled. Sensei Shioda pitied me." I saw the confusion on her face and nodded. "It's hard to explain."
"Try."
I sighed and nodded. "Okay. The mornin' after the imprintin' I woke up and didn't know who I was for awhile."
"Temporary disassociation is a common side effect."
I nodded. "For a while I felt like I was seein' everythin' the way he would have. So when I started to remember who I was ... well it was kinda painful. I got to see me from his perspective." She ran her fingers up the back of my neck and into my hair. "It was like he looked at me, you know? In the most intimate of settin's he saw who I was and what I'd been through ... and ah .... he pitied me. He actually grieved for my innocence. Lookin' at me hurt him. He saw me as a victim ..."
"Which you have been."
"Yeeah," I said, not wanting to agree with her but not seein' any way out of it. "Well, it really shook me up."
She nodded. "Being victimized and being a victim are two very different things. You have been victimized but that doesn't mean you are a victim."
I nodded and cocked my head to look her in the eye. "Yeah," I said. That I could accept. "Thanks."
She smiled that quiet smile at me. "We have some of the same issues."
I smiled back at her. "I suppose we do, huh?" I looked back at my hands, currently restin' in my lap. "Well, Giorno," I said, "only saw me as a collection of facts and figures ... like a column of numbers that added up to a sum equaling 'not fit to live.' To her I might as well have been somethin' foul and dangerous that crawled up out of the slime to menace some kids or somethin'."
"Do you believe it?"
"Huh?"
"One of the dangers in all of these cognitive transfer devices is the potential impact on the ego. Very early on in the tech's development the ability to perceive ourselves from someone else's perspective proved in many cases to be destabilizing to the psyche."
"Now repeat that in 'mentally r*******,'" I said.
She gave me a sideways look. "If you see yourself through someone else's eyes it's easy to accept the way they see you as 'the truth.' You are, for all intents and purposes, experiencing the entirety of their perception of you at one time, including past experience, judgments and any emotional associations they have with you. You get all of it and absorb all of it experientially. It's not like watching visual images on a vid or listening to music with some headphones or even entering a virtual environment through an MSID.* You get to experience the way another person thinks about you as that person. So when Rabeka Giorno thinks that you're a piece of trash that doesn't have the right to live you get to experience that perspective with all of the conviction that she has when she's thinking it, and Giorno had some pretty intense convictions. So ... I'm asking if you believe what she thought about you?"
I flashed that cocky grin of mine and met her eyes. "I'm alright, Gin."
She just stared at me. I held her gaze. After a moment she nodded. "Okay," she said, not soundin' convinced.
I shook my head and looked back at my hands. "She didn't think anything worse about me than I do myself."
"Strange," Gin replied, "but I don't find that reassuring."
I took a long, slow breath and met her eye. "I'm only tellin' you the truth, Gin."
She stared at me for a moment and then nodded. "I know, Drake. I don't mean to give you a hard time. It's just ..." She offered me a thin smile. "She took everything from me. Everything. And rational or not I think on some level I don't expect that to stop even with her death."
"All that's left of that bitch is in that memory ..."
"No." She was shakin' her head. "No, Drake. Don't ever underestimate her. Even dead that bitch is dangerous. She left a lot of threats behind her."
"I was tryin' to make you feel better."
"I appreciate the gesture but it's been a long time since I felt comforted by fairy tales."
I nodded. "Okay," I said. "I get it."
"I know you do." She ran those fingers over my ear and kissed me. "You want to stay?"
"Yeah," I said. "I do."
*MSID = multi sense input device
First off I'd like to thank each and every one of you reading this for your attention and your patience. I imagine if you've come this far you like what we're doing here and that thought alone makes me feel good. It's good to see the same names continue to show up time and time again in this thread. I've grown to think of many of you as friends. So, without meaning to single anyone out or exclude anyone I'd like to say: Malren it made me feel really good to see your name in the thread again. And Deeparth I think you may just be one of the finest people I've ever been exposed to. You consistently demonstrate some of the best qualities I could ever ask for in a person. I hope you never lose your ideals.
Okay, so, once more I'd like to apologize for the lengthy delay. If it helps know that I'm probably more frustrated with the lack of progress than you are. I know I'm more frustrated with the cause, which is my frequent difficulties with concentration. It's not constant, though. In the middle of the night, when everyone else is asleep and the world is quiet I've been able to get some writing done.
So, thanks to Kirlack for lighting a fire under my backside and getting me going again, and thanks to all of you for continuing to read and to my fellow authors for participating in what has proven to be a hell of a lot of fun. Anyway, without further preamble I give you:
96. Recall
I'm standin' in front of a window lookin' out at a ... at an expanse of stars that I don't recognize. There's a big red gas giant far below my feet and a pretty blue star that is both nearby and the better part of a billion kilometers away. Somethin' about that star echoes in my soul ... even though I don't recognize it either. There's a reflection in the glass in front of me. It's my face but it's also ... not my face. From behind me I hear the voice of a man, and he's obviously disturbed by what I just told him.
"Admiral," he says, and his voice is pensive and fearful, "the Altori won't approve of this."
"I don't care," I snap at him. "Get it done. That little bastard is growing too fast. I want him in my brig. I want that pirate armada of his crippled and I want that bomb factory shut down. So do as I say and let me worry about the Altori."
"Y-Yes ... Admiral."
There's a hiss from behind me as the hatch opens. A moment later the sound repeats itself and I'm alone. I can see the light of that pretty blue star gleamin' off the bright white hull of a nearby ice harvestin' facility and winkin' off an endless stream of what looks like tiny chips of glass driftin' in some wind but are actually the hulls of countless ships in the trade lanes. I lift a glass to my lips and take a sip. I taste the bourbon on my tongue and feel it in my throat as it as I swallow. I take a breath and exhale through my nose. "Welcome to the big leagues, kid," I whisper, almost tenderly. "Too bad you can't stay ..."
I snarled then and ripped the thing off my head, the thing that Legion called a 'cognitive recall device.' It was at that moment communicatin' directly with my nervous system and stimulatin' the parts of my brain responsible for memories and cognitive thinkin'. You're supposed to shut it off and allow it to power down before removin' it and I immediately found out why. A brilliant white pain sizzled across the back of my eyes and the world went sideways just as I was tryin' to stand up. Instead a gettin' to my feet I ended up lyin' on the ground seein' stars.
For a moment all I could do was seeth. I'd been experiencin' Rabeka Giorno's memories. I'd been feelin' what she felt and thinkin' what she thought. I'd been seein' the world through her eyes. Which means I got to actually feel what she felt when she thought of me as if it was my own opinion. It was a blend of contempt and fear and even a strange, grudging respect that I ... that she would never admit to. Yeah. Needless to say the experience was ...
... complicated.
At first all I could feel was rage. It filled my world like a fire bringin' down a buildin'. In that moment it was all there was. It burned through my brain and raged through all the strings of my nerves all the way down to the tips a my toes. Even now I feel like I took a good hit from a high voltage line. Then I couldn't even think and all I wanted in the universe was to have my hands around Rabeka Giorno's throat and my teeth buried in her neck. I wanted to taste her blood in my mouth and feel her die under the onslaught of my rage. Later I found out that I was experiencin' what's referred to as "recall rejection" and that it's a danger whenever someone reviews memories in which they are both the subject and associated with powerful emotions, especially negative ones. It has somethin' to do with the ego experiencin' some kind a fundamental paradox and defendin' itself. Frak if I know. All I know for certain is that I was pissed. If I had actually bothered to educate myself on the thing before pluggin' myself into it I might have been prepared for what I was experiencin' ... and maybe I also wouldn't a torn that thing off my head in the first place ... but I didn't. No, like everyin' else in my life I had to figure it out the hard way.
So there I was with my brain on fire strugglin' to come back to myself through a world of pain and rage when, in a truly convoluted experience of multiple overlappin' personalities, I felt Sensei Shioda show up to help me retake control of my experience. It was a knee jerk reaction for him, actually. The rage triggered a discipline of his that had been perfected over a lifetime and then copied into my nervous system. My attention went to my breathin' and the beat of my heart. My mind seemed to shift into neutral and then all I could think of was the image of cherry blossoms floatin' on the breeze.
Slowly I came back to myself. My heart rate gradually slowed and soon I was able to hear the various sounds of my ship over the screamin' in my head. First I heard the deep, cyclin' hum of the matter / anti-matter engines and then the whisper of the air leavin' the vents overhead. Finally I became aware of the sound of people talkin' out in the galley. It was muted and muffled by the hatch separatin' us but even so I could hear the camaraderie. They were loud and laughin'. It was a good sound and it seemed to bring me home.
So I took one more deep breath and slowly I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was the Anarchy Port loomin' out in the night, the stage for the most horrifyin' moments of my life. For a moment I just stared at it, thinkin' of Latasha Seldon and Aaron Slamer ... and how he'd never carry her to bed again. Then I sighed and looked down at my wrist to check the time.
768-06-04 00:16
The boisterous sounds of my crew made sense. A shift had just ended. Those comin' off watch were rowdy and loud. I'd been at it for the better part of the last five hours.
I took another breath and slowly got to my feet. I was hesitant at first, and held on to my desk. My balance was good, though, and other than a splittin' headache and a deeply troubled soul I seemed to be none the worse for wear. I stood there in the dark for a moment, starin' through my reflection at the Pirate AP. Then I sighed again, turned and found one of the bottles behind me. I poured myself two fingers of whiskey and downed it. After a moment I poured myself two more. After downin' those I made my way across the room and left the solitude of my office to step out into my ship.
Gunny t'Kt was standin' beside my door and straightened slightly as I stepped through the hatch. "Gunny, what are you doin'?" I asked him.
He met my eye. "I am guarding the entrance to your quarters, Admiral."
I nodded. "Aye," I said. "I can see that but ... why?"
"Because there is no one else to do it, Admiral."
I stared at him as the meanin' of those words sank in. "You're the only marine on this ship?"
He nodded once.
"Where are Rider and Fisty?"
"Pico Rider and Toki Fisty are still aboard the Tiamat receiving treatment for injuries sustained aboard the Anarchy Port."
I nodded. "Well," I said, "We're currently adrift within the lovin' embrace of both the Ragnarök and the Tiamat's fighter patrols with the Destiny and the Sword of Aggrievance close enough to assist with whatever comes along and you, my friend, have earned yourself some down time so consider this a direct order."
He raised one of his eyebrows just slightly.
"Get some rest," I said. "We're safe and you've bloody well earned it." I clapped him on the shoulder and showed him a thin, if very grateful smile.
Despite lookin' terribly uncomfortable with the order he responded with the ser'kavi and then exhaled. A moment later he headed for the ladder below. As I watched him go I felt the eyes on me. When I looked up three separate faces looked away. Jo Pareii held my gaze. Now I've always thought of Jo as a bit strange. She's always struck me as one of those people that's so smart that they don't quite know how to interact with people. Computers and math problems and other folks that think that way are fine but regular people she's not so good with. Yet of all the people in that galley she was the only one that wasn't afraid to meet my eye and in that moment she reminded me of a child who hadn't learned fear yet. For some reason seein' her stare right back at me made me smile.
"Ensign," I said.
"Admiral," she echoed and smiled back, earnin' her some curious glances from her crewmates.
I saw Gil Nedley lookin' at me, wantin' to ask me if I needed anythin' but I guess my body language told him what he needed to know cuz he just smiled and nodded at me. For some reason right then it actually felt really good to be seen. I don't know. Maybe it had somethin' to do with Rabeka Giorno only considerin' me the sum of a bunch of facts, like a column of numbers that added up to an unpleasant sum. Either way it felt good to look into familiar faces and see myself recognized. After a moment I turned and made my way toward the ladder Gunny had just descended. A moment later I was standin' in front of Gin's compartment. I hit the call button and a moment after that the hatch opened and Gin met my eye.
"Hey," I said.
She lifted an eyebrow at me. "You okay?" She asked. I wasn't expectin' the question and before I could cover with a smile or a grin she'd seen the truth. She smiled at me and reached out to cup my cheek. "You look tired."
"I feel like I've lived a century in the past few days," I said.
"Considering the procedure you underwent when you stayed on the Endless ..."
"What procedure?" I asked, but my smile gave the lie away.
Her eyes narrowed. "Suit yourself, Drake."
"Okay," I relented. "Okay," I said. "How'd you figure it out?"
"Drake I have doctorates in human physiology, neuroscience, and bio-mechanical engineering. I studied neurological imprinting when I was still in college. Overnight you developed skills that take years to learn and decades to master and yet there you were using small joint manipulation to take down a man that not only has decades of practice handling himself he also has at least twenty kilos more mass than you. It wasn't that difficult to see that something had changed. Add to that the additional muscle mass and physical confidence that you've been ..."
"Really?"
"Really what?"
"I have additional muscle mass?"
She laughed at me and shook her head. "Men ..." She held my eye and then nodded. "Yes, Drake. You gained at least a kilo of body mass overnight and since then you've put on several more. I'm surprised you haven't noticed. Don't men normally study themselves looking for ..."
"I wasn't sure if I was imaginin' it or not." I confessed.
She laid a hand on my chest. "You weren't."
"And physical confidence too, huh?"
She just watched me.
I grinned at her. "So it was me handlin' Odin?"
She sighed softly and shook her head. "Back in the Sol system it's a two hundred year old technology, Drake. I knew what I was looking at."
I nodded. Of course.
"Who was it, anyway?" She asked me, cockin' her head to look at me.
I raised my eyebrows.
"The imprint," she said. "Who was it?"
I took a breath. "His name was Sensei Koichi Shioda ..."
"The aquido master?" She said, soundin' surprised. "Huh."
"Huh ... what?"
"It's just ... he was a Buddhist monk and a pacifist. It just seems like a contradictory personality for you. How'd you choose him?"
"Aaah," I stammered, "I didn't. It was Legion's recommendation." She nodded and studied me as she did. After a moment I started to get a little uncomfortable. "Uh, can I come in?" I asked. She smiled a little and shrugged before steppin' out of the way. I stepped past her into the tiny little compartment she occupied. There were three additional racks beside the one she used all still folded up into the wall. At the far end of the room there were twin closets opening off the main compartment. In one was a toilet. In the other was a shower stall barely big enough to stand up in. On the left wall was a tiny sink and on the right were four lockers. The entire space, includin' the washroom facilities, the sink and the lockers was maybe five meters long and less'n half that in width. I couldn't imagine sharin' it with three other people. Yet there were seven other compartments on the ship and in three of 'em that was the arrangement. In fact besides myself Gin was the only other person on the ship that had a compartment all to herself. I'd gotten so spoiled.
I looked back and met her eye. She was standin' close enough for me to smell the shampoo she'd used and smilin' at me like she was readin' my mind. "So," she began, "anything interesting in Admiral Rabeka Giorno's memories?"
I flashed that cocky grin of mine. "You know that's what I love about you, Gin: you're subtle and indirect nature." Her brow furrowed and she looked at me like I'd lost my mind. I exhaled heavily and ran some fingers through my hair. Then I met her eye again. "That was one very scary woman, Gin."
"Yes. She was."
I took another deep breath and let it out heavy. "You know she didn't see people as ... well, people. She only saw what could serve her agenda or stand in the way of it. I don't even think she'd admit it to herself but to Rabeka Giorno the whole universe belonged to her."
Gin nodded. "Yeah," she said, barely more than a whisper. I looked at her and she was lookin' off into the gloom. The pain in her face made me wonder what would it be like to have everything you are, everything you've dreamed of, your future, your hopes and dreams, even your very humanity ... forcibly taken from you? It only took a heartbeat before I realized that I didn't want to know.
"You okay?" I asked her.
She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm glad she's dead."
"Me too," I nodded. "I'll likely spend the better part of the next few weeks goin' through her memories. I like that new tech Legion sent over, although I don't recommend pullin' it off your temples before shuttin' it off ..."
She looked at me with genuine concern. "Oh, you didn't."
I nodded. "I did. I've never been too fond of instruction manuals and didn't bother readin' the one that came with the thing."
She continued to looked worried. "Drake, that can cause seizures. You must have a splitting headache."
I shrugged. "It's subsidin'." I sat down on the edge of her bed. "I like the tech, though. It's a very organic experience. It's a lot like lookin' through your own memories. All I had to do was think of things and allow the connections in her mind to carry me from memory to memory. It was a bit like surfin' in the dark, though. I mean when you're lookin' into your own mind I think most of us know where the road leads. When lookin' through someone else's past it's a bit different, though. I had no idea where the wave was gonna take me and there were a couple times when it felt like I'd been cast upon the rocks."
"How so?"
I shook my head. "You know since the day it happened I've been tryin' to figure out why they came at me. I mean we're pirates. We stole a ship here n' there but never from the terrans. Hell we were even workin' for 'em, and I even went so far as to think we had a good relationship. So I just couldn't fathom the upside in destroyin' a mutually beneficial relationship. Yet that's just what they did. They planted bombs on my ships, killed my people and kidnapped you n me ... and every day since then I've wondered why."
"Did you get your answer?"
I nodded. She didn't say anythin' and after a moment I looked. "It was the porn."
She blinked. "Did you say porn?" She asked. "As in pornography?"
I laughed. "Yeah." I nodded and looked down at my hands. "I pulled this escort gig for the Argon government right around the time I first got my hands on the Destiny. It was shit work, really, and annoyed me to no end at the time. Durin' the whole mess, though, I somehow managed to impress the Terran ambassador I was protectin'. It ended up earnin' me a contact in the Heretic's End orbital defense station. Some time later Malcolm needed to get into terran space to track down a friend and I cashed in that contact. It actually turned out to be a potentially lucrative deal. I mean the work was crap, and the pay was just a few M5 scouts ... one of which is that advanced disco I gave to you ... but the real upside was that I was able to start tradin' in the Sol system, and at the time I thought there was a real future in it. A legitimate future. But aah, durin' one of the first assignments they gave me the Xenon attacked the Sol system, apparently for the first time since Nathan Gunne and the Dragonfyre suckered the Xenon away from Earth and the gate was blown behind 'em."
"I heard about that. You were there?"
"Right smack dab in the middle of it," I said. "It wasn't much, really. Just a bunch of scouts."
"I thought there was a carrier?"
"That was a couple days later. I was there too, even managed to piss the terran off when I hit that J with a couple of nukes. But anyway, the reason I bring up that first assignment is what happened after it was all cleaned up. They wanted to have a look through my ship's sensor data."
She started noddin' then. "I'm guessin' you told 'em to frak off?"
"No. No. I obliged 'em. I mean I was careful. I took the ships memory core offline, isolated the data they wanted and sent it to 'em. Had they simply taken it and been honorable everythin' would a worked out just fine. Instead they tried hackin' through my firewalls to access both my navigational data and personal account information and even though I'd been expectin' it, it still pissed me off."
"I can imagine. What did you do?"
"I had my guys hack into all the porn feeds in the system. Then we encrypted 'em all so they'd look like some tasty secrets and then allowed those geeks at the Saturn Research Facility to upload 'em."
She started to laugh. "So you did tell them to frak off."
It took me a second but when I got it I started to laugh. "Yeah. I guess I did at that. I thought it was a better solution than chuckin' a firestorm at 'em at any rate." My grin faded. "As it turns out, though, the firestorm may have been a better option cuz Giorno didn't find my prank anywhere near as amusin' as I did. I relived the moment she was informed of it in her memories. She remained quiet and calm and reserved. It was a mask she was very comfortable with. Underneath, though, it pissed her off. The audacity, you know? The irreverence of it. The lack of ..." I took a breath and thought about it. "Respect isn't quite the right word. Dread, maybe? Awe. Those might be closer. It infuriated her that I thought I had the right to defend my assets from 'em. Yeah. In that moment she decided that I needed to be taught to 'respect my betters.' That's exactly how the thought crossed her mind, by the way: to respect my betters."
Gin just watched me.
I nodded. "Anyway, from then on I was on her radar, and the more she learned about me the more I offended her. Like I was somethin' nasty she just stepped in. It wasn't hard to do mind you. I'm just about everything she despises all wrapped up in a single package. For starters I'm Argon. The Argon as a whole offend her. In her mind the instant Earth re-established contact with the Argon Federation we were supposed to immediately defer to GEOSS control and turn over all our assets and decision making authority to them. Never mind a thousand years of independent evolution or the fact that it was our ancestors that bailed Earth's bacon out of the fire in the first place ... and by doin' so cut ourselves off from any assistance Terra could have offered us." I shook my head and sighed. "As far as Giorno was concerned we were a Terran colony and needed to recognize that by unconditionally putting our fate in the hands of the Altori. When we didn't ... well, when we didn't as far as she was concerned we had just defined ourselves as rebels and in her mind needed to be put down."
Gin arched an eyebrow at me.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Not much grey area in the good Admiral's thinking. Hell she was even aware a the fact that her expectations weren't reasonable. Aware enough to have lengthy conversations with a lot of very powerful and intelligent people without ever revealin' her true thoughts on the matter at any rate. Yeah she was scary. She was the kind a person who could stand there picturin' the knife in your back while lookin' you straight in the eyes and smilin'. You know I think I'm more afraid of that woman now that she's dead than I ever was when she was alive."
Gin just watched me. "You okay?"
"Hell I don't know," I said and she sat down beside me. "She knew a lot about me, Gin. In many ways she knew more about me than I did." I laughed briefly. "She knew that I was the product of real life sex instead of bein' grown in a lab like a 'civilized' person, and that was NOT a point in my favor, by the way."
"No, I don't imagine it would be."
"She knew that I'd grown up in Old City and had been exposed to 'illicit and illegal activities' pretty much my whole life. She knew my Ma died of a drug overdose and that she'd been usin' since shortly after I was born. That in turn prompted some very ungenerous opinions regardin' my Ma's need for escape."
Gin wrapped an arm around my waist and put her chin on my shoulder.
"She knew about Leo and that he was a small time leg breaker for the crooks but she also knew who my real father was. His full name was Scion Athan Drakhar and he'd been born on some no-name minin' colony at the edge of Argon Federation Space. She knew he was an assassin and a pirate." I took a breath and looked at her. "You know it's actually really frakkin' disturbin' to see yourself from someone else's point of view." I said. "I've done it twice now and both times I've come away profoundly unsettled. Sensei Shioda pitied me." I saw the confusion on her face and nodded. "It's hard to explain."
"Try."
I sighed and nodded. "Okay. The mornin' after the imprintin' I woke up and didn't know who I was for awhile."
"Temporary disassociation is a common side effect."
I nodded. "For a while I felt like I was seein' everythin' the way he would have. So when I started to remember who I was ... well it was kinda painful. I got to see me from his perspective." She ran her fingers up the back of my neck and into my hair. "It was like he looked at me, you know? In the most intimate of settin's he saw who I was and what I'd been through ... and ah .... he pitied me. He actually grieved for my innocence. Lookin' at me hurt him. He saw me as a victim ..."
"Which you have been."
"Yeeah," I said, not wanting to agree with her but not seein' any way out of it. "Well, it really shook me up."
She nodded. "Being victimized and being a victim are two very different things. You have been victimized but that doesn't mean you are a victim."
I nodded and cocked my head to look her in the eye. "Yeah," I said. That I could accept. "Thanks."
She smiled that quiet smile at me. "We have some of the same issues."
I smiled back at her. "I suppose we do, huh?" I looked back at my hands, currently restin' in my lap. "Well, Giorno," I said, "only saw me as a collection of facts and figures ... like a column of numbers that added up to a sum equaling 'not fit to live.' To her I might as well have been somethin' foul and dangerous that crawled up out of the slime to menace some kids or somethin'."
"Do you believe it?"
"Huh?"
"One of the dangers in all of these cognitive transfer devices is the potential impact on the ego. Very early on in the tech's development the ability to perceive ourselves from someone else's perspective proved in many cases to be destabilizing to the psyche."
"Now repeat that in 'mentally r*******,'" I said.
She gave me a sideways look. "If you see yourself through someone else's eyes it's easy to accept the way they see you as 'the truth.' You are, for all intents and purposes, experiencing the entirety of their perception of you at one time, including past experience, judgments and any emotional associations they have with you. You get all of it and absorb all of it experientially. It's not like watching visual images on a vid or listening to music with some headphones or even entering a virtual environment through an MSID.* You get to experience the way another person thinks about you as that person. So when Rabeka Giorno thinks that you're a piece of trash that doesn't have the right to live you get to experience that perspective with all of the conviction that she has when she's thinking it, and Giorno had some pretty intense convictions. So ... I'm asking if you believe what she thought about you?"
I flashed that cocky grin of mine and met her eyes. "I'm alright, Gin."
She just stared at me. I held her gaze. After a moment she nodded. "Okay," she said, not soundin' convinced.
I shook my head and looked back at my hands. "She didn't think anything worse about me than I do myself."
"Strange," Gin replied, "but I don't find that reassuring."
I took a long, slow breath and met her eye. "I'm only tellin' you the truth, Gin."
She stared at me for a moment and then nodded. "I know, Drake. I don't mean to give you a hard time. It's just ..." She offered me a thin smile. "She took everything from me. Everything. And rational or not I think on some level I don't expect that to stop even with her death."
"All that's left of that bitch is in that memory ..."
"No." She was shakin' her head. "No, Drake. Don't ever underestimate her. Even dead that bitch is dangerous. She left a lot of threats behind her."
"I was tryin' to make you feel better."
"I appreciate the gesture but it's been a long time since I felt comforted by fairy tales."
I nodded. "Okay," I said. "I get it."
"I know you do." She ran those fingers over my ear and kissed me. "You want to stay?"
"Yeah," I said. "I do."
*MSID = multi sense input device
Last edited by Scion Drakhar on Wed, 7. Mar 12, 01:29, edited 2 times in total.
A Pirate's Story.pdf(KIA) by _Zap _ From Nothing.PDF(complete) by _Zap _ Prodigal Son(active) Original Thread, Prodigal Son_PDF
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Ah, then you'll not be wanting the best of from Ea't's collection then eh?
And yes, for those wondering, it IS ALL scarier than his interrogation technique.
And yes, for those wondering, it IS ALL scarier than his interrogation technique.
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016
The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016
The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain
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Somehow I find the very consept of Split porn ... disturbing. And for some reason that thought made me giggle like an idiotTriaxx2 wrote:Ah, then you'll not be wanting the best of from Ea't's collection then eh?
And yes, for those wondering, it IS ALL scarier than his interrogation technique.

Yes, I believe the neighbors think I'm off my rocker. Again.
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am 
DiDs:
Eye of the storm Completed
Eye of the storm - book 2 Inactive
Black Sun - Completed
Endgame - Completed

DiDs:
Eye of the storm Completed
Eye of the storm - book 2 Inactive
Black Sun - Completed
Endgame - Completed
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With all the recent updates, I figured that I'd better stop slacking. Good to see you back Scion!
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“What do you think he wants?”
“How should I know Ugly? The money’s not due for quite some time. I think it’s a she by the way.”
“She? How do you figure? What’s the difference anyways?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. Tell you what, when we get there, why don’t you take the liberty and find out.”
“Come to think of it, it might be better not to know. You ever hear our saying for such things? Ignorance is bliss.”
“Sure have, your people have many sayings. You ever hear the one about companionship?”
“Nope, how’s it go?”
“Men keep dogs for the same reason that women keep men. They enjoy the company of something dumber than them.” With that she turned to me and flashed one big squidy smile.
“Are you saying that I’m your pet? Wait- are you calling me stupid?!”
“Ha, of course not. I’m just saying that I’ve been enjoying myself since I met you.”
Oh Luna, you can be real enigmatic you know. We’ve been stuck in this Dolphin for the last thirteen stazuras or so, following these two falcon vanguards. You know, I have always thought that fighters should be pretty fast moving objects, but these two I believe I could beat in a race if I got on top of our ship and coughed. Needless to say, me and Luna had a lot of time to get to know each other just a bit more. Of course I’ve learned nothing more about her. She on the other hand seemed to have got entire reams of data on me. Though, like I said, she’s still a mystery to me so I might be reading that wrong. That squidy smile isn’t helping.
This sector we were in was all red and misty like. I’d say, if you came in here looking for something you’d better have scanners, there’s nothing to see but this... red misty stuff. Our scanners were struggling to identify every floating rock out there. It has always amazed me that space is so vast, infinite and empty yet there are splotches everywhere like this that is just full of junk. What makes them gather like this? Before I could explore that thought too far, a big object appeared on the scanner. That’s when those Teladi pilots commed us.
“You’d better follow ussss clossssely.”
“Yessss, it would be a sssshame if sssomething were to happen to you.”
The comms were cut before they were finished cackling. I hate Teladi. I’ve made the joke to Luna once how those lizard people were only good as a pair of boots. She looked so appalled, I’ve never made that joke since.
These two though, they’ve been heckling us ever since we were caught leaving that one Argon trade station. I wasn’t in good temper, Luna hasn’t helped, I was ready to kill something, and those two made mighty tempting targets. I was about to tell Luna this when something caught my eye just outside the windows.
Mines. There were mines everywhere! Some mines were even stacked on top of each other. I was almost afraid to breathe because those things were so tightly packed. Whose bright idea was this? It looked like one false step would set all those off. I pointed the mines out to Luna. It took her a good while to figure out what my concern was. She stopped breathing, I least I think she did. Her eyes went all wide searching for more of those things in the mist.
It wasn’t too long after we reached the minefield that we starting making our landing run on that large object our scanners picked up. As it solidified out of the red mist, I could see that it was just a pile of ships hastily welded together to make a station. Teladi sure are cheap. We were docked before long and our two guides were attempting to prod us out of our ship.
“Exit ssship now! Tertocamiusssssss Atessssychoro Bronusssssussseul IV will no tolerate any delay!”
That name was quite a mouthful. Mister Warden even seemed to struggle spouting that phonetically challenged abomination of a name. I gathered my walking stick and followed Luna out the hatch. Out on the dock were the two hecklers trying to look mean. They were about as threatening as a rampaging wet noodle. This just about made me laugh, instead a smirk appeared on my face. Those two didn’t like it one bit.
“You, leave sssstick here.”
“Come on now, I need it to walk,” I said.
“No, leave sssstick here.”
“Leave it Ugly. I pretty sure one of guards will be more than happy to carry you all the way to Tab’s office or where ever.”
“But Luna I nee-“
“Shut up Ugly. Put the stick back in the ship so we can get this little meeting over with. You with the spikes, you’re going to have to help him where ever we’re going.”
“I refusssse.”
“Oh really? That’s fine then. I bet ol’Tabby isn’t too keen on seeing us right now then, is he?”
“I ssssaid no delay!”
“No delay or stick. Your choice, you can’t have both.” That’s when she smiled again.
Those two glanced at each other, obviously a little taken aback by my counterpart’s resistance. I know what they were thinking, it was the same thought I’ve had so many times before. How could something so small and so unassuming look that threatening with a smile? I don’t think Luna has teeth either. It’s just a regular smile with just a hint of unimaginable horror behind it.
Our guards didn’t take too long deciding what to do. They let me hold onto my walking stick with a few grumbles. In a few mizuras we were on our way where ever and had an uneventful jaunt to Tabby’s office. Two more guards were standing outside the office door. These two looked a bit more threatening.
The door leading in was thick. As I walked through the doorway I took a glance at it. It was Terran green oak, newly crafted and stained with mahogany. I could smell the lumber used to make this door and it brought back memories of home. It also reminded me how far away home was and the fact I could never return. Inside was more wooden furniture, all Terran green oak and all stained in mahogany. Some of the pieces were inlaid with gold and nividium and all had masterful scrollwork carved into them. They were expensive and spoke volumes of the one who owned them. There in front of us sat a little lizard in a chair far too big for him.
“Hello Tabs. For what misconceived reason have you brought us here for today.” Luna asked through an expression that was somewhere between a smile and a snarl.
“Hello Luna. Take a … chair. Make … be comfortable. We have much to … talk about.” Tabs was trying to sound ominous, but with his feet dangling and those pauses in his speech, he was failing badly.
There was a couch, well more of a loveseat, situated right in front of him. It seemed only natural for us to sit there while talking to him. It groaned in protest as I settled my mass on it. Luna didn’t even elicit a squeak when she plopped down.
“I’m fairly … certain that you two are wondering why I brought you here today. Allow me to get … right down to … the point. Luna, I’ve received … a few … … peculiar …”
“Spit it out Tabs, you’ve already tested my patience for the day.” My little squidy friend snapped at him.
“I have … information that I found very intriguing about your … former job. I’ve called you here for … a bit of clarification.”
“Tabs I’ll let you know right now, you want no part of it.”
“My dear Luna, I do … very much want to be a part of it. Think what it could do for our … kind.”
I sat in my little corner of the couch. Even though I was fully lit by the overhead lights, I was still very much in the dark. Luna and Tabs verbally sparred back and forth with such words as research and glory around. When the words photosynthesis and glucose was used it finally shed a little light into the topic.
“Luna, are you a scientist?” I asked, curiosity thoroughly peaked. Of all the things I didn’t know about her, this was probably the biggest revelation I’ve gained so far.
“Kind of. Let me finish talking Ugly.” Luna tried to dismiss me. I wasn’t about to be so easily dismissed and let this chance for little insight pass me by. Tabs seemed to welcome a break in the conversation.
“What did you science about?”
“Ugly, science is not a verb. Please don’t say anything else to embarrass me. Now be quiet and let me finish talking to Tabs.”
I was going to press her a little further but she gave a very dangerous look. So I settled back into my comfy little corner and let them continue talking. I watched as my grasp on the conversation rapidly slip away. It was barely a few mizuras when I started getting sleepy and decided to rest my head on the sofa. As I threw my arm over the back of the couch, my hand landed in a bowl of some sort with stuff inside it. I glanced over and noticed a bunch of candies. Hiding my actions as best I could I picked one of them and quietly unwrapped it and then covertly put it in my mouth. I was all stealth like and no one noticed. It was Butterscotch Caramel Twist! Again I reached back and this time grabbed a fist full to put into one of my robe’s pockets. One of the guards noticed but didn’t say anything. A big grin appeared on his face though. With my ill gotten candies safely stored I began to remove my hand when it hit something else in my robes. It was the two data pads that shady gentleman gave me back at the bar. Two things were clearly visible: “Drake” and “Two Hundred Million”. That’s when Luna said something and brought my attention back to the conversation.
“And how do we come up with that amount of money?” She said with an intense stare locked on Tabs.
“I could bother my … manager for a few… uh … financial aid.”
“Yeah, he will be willing to shed few million credits for a bunch of misfits like us right?”
“I’m … confident that he will … be convinced.”
“‘Oh Tabs and Luna your idea just sounds grand! Here take everything I can spare and go forth to make the universe a better place!’” Luna spoke in the deepest voice she could muster and could barely contain her mirth as she finished speaking.
“He would help, you know that Luna.”
“That’s a load of crap and you know it, especially if he found out what we were looking for. There is no way we are coming up with a few hundred million credits in just a couple days!” She snapped at Tabs.
“Um,” I interrupted and instantly received two piercing gazes, “How about this?” I threw the two data pads on the table that separated us. In hindsight that was the worst mistake I’ve ever made since meeting Luna. Everybody in that room could clearly see the two hundred million bounty on the guy named Drake and everybody was dumbstruck by what they saw. Luna slowly swiveled her head to stare me straight in the eye with a mixed expression of “You stupid piece of crap” and “How the hell did you come across this?”.
“That would explain why your Dolphin … being heavily equipped. Do you really think you can pull it off?”
“Hold that thought Tabs while I beat some sense into my counterpart.”
“What did I do?” In the heat of the moment I had forgotten that Luna posed absolutely no physical threat to me. I still shied away from her.
“Tabs, our ship has no capability what so ever of capturing that man.”
“But the…”
“We have no missiles onboard. That was Ugly’s little prank on me for buying so many stuffed animals.”
“How did you figure…” I stammered.
“‘Oh Luna!!’“ She threw all her tentacles in the air and let them slowly cascade over the back of the couch. “‘I am so sorry for being such a jerk! Please accept my pitiful act of remorse as a genuine apology!’” She can be such a jerk, though now that I think of it my little act was pretty bad.
“You have no…”
“That’s right we have no weapons of any kind, Tabs.”
“Luna, we have my…” I began.
“Like I said. We. Have. No. Weapons. At all.” She very calmly told me. That was Luna’s code for “Shut the hell up Ugly”.
“I believe you are hiding… your ordnance.”
“No we aren’t. Ugly here can pick anything up and use it as ‘Ordnance’”
“Hmm, very well then.” He sounded very unconvinced
Fate has a X2 sagt Bussi auf Bauch nature. Just as Tabs finished speaking my Gladiator that I had originally order to follow oh so long ago, finally had caught up. It was the Teladi behind me that brought our attention to it.
“Incoming sssship through the mine fieldssss.” All the Teladi guards gathered near the window to look out at it. True to what he said, my Gladiator was cruising through the mine field without a care in the world.
“Ugly, please tell me that’s not your Gladiator.”
“It might be?”
Luna leaned forward onto her tentacles with what I believe were several quiet sobs. I could grasp just how serious this was, though I had no way of telling my ship to go away. In several mizuras it had cleared the mines without setting one off.
“Ssship hassss cleared minesss. Order the pilotsss to dessstroy sssship!”
“That’s not a good idea.” I said to slightly meaner looking bodyguard.
“Why?!” He snarled at me.
“It’s full of armed Heavy Tomahawk missiles.”
He just stared at me wide eyed, quite funny to be honest. “How do you know thisss? And why are they armed?!”
“I never figured how to disarm them and I was too… embarrassed to ask how.” I said with a forced smile. Everyone was just looking at me with their mouths open. “Maybe you should call your fighters off?”
Too late. Several lances of particle accelerator cannon fire ripped through the shields and then the hull. For a brief few seconds we were looking at a small sun. After it cleared, no signs of damage were visible anywhere and neither were the attacking ships.
“Damage report!” Screamed one of the Teladi.
“Nothing to report. Everything isss fine.” Came a high pitched reply from somewhere outside the room. A few scampering feet were heard as well. The one that screamed for the damage report stuck his head outside the door.
“Where are you all running to?”
“I believe they discovered that we’ve gained some velocity, courtesy of that explosion.” Luna put forward.
“And why doessss that concern usss?” Clearly his temper was running short.
Luna smiled, “We are surrounded by mines.”
---------------------------------
“What do you think he wants?”
“How should I know Ugly? The money’s not due for quite some time. I think it’s a she by the way.”
“She? How do you figure? What’s the difference anyways?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. Tell you what, when we get there, why don’t you take the liberty and find out.”
“Come to think of it, it might be better not to know. You ever hear our saying for such things? Ignorance is bliss.”
“Sure have, your people have many sayings. You ever hear the one about companionship?”
“Nope, how’s it go?”
“Men keep dogs for the same reason that women keep men. They enjoy the company of something dumber than them.” With that she turned to me and flashed one big squidy smile.
“Are you saying that I’m your pet? Wait- are you calling me stupid?!”
“Ha, of course not. I’m just saying that I’ve been enjoying myself since I met you.”
Oh Luna, you can be real enigmatic you know. We’ve been stuck in this Dolphin for the last thirteen stazuras or so, following these two falcon vanguards. You know, I have always thought that fighters should be pretty fast moving objects, but these two I believe I could beat in a race if I got on top of our ship and coughed. Needless to say, me and Luna had a lot of time to get to know each other just a bit more. Of course I’ve learned nothing more about her. She on the other hand seemed to have got entire reams of data on me. Though, like I said, she’s still a mystery to me so I might be reading that wrong. That squidy smile isn’t helping.
This sector we were in was all red and misty like. I’d say, if you came in here looking for something you’d better have scanners, there’s nothing to see but this... red misty stuff. Our scanners were struggling to identify every floating rock out there. It has always amazed me that space is so vast, infinite and empty yet there are splotches everywhere like this that is just full of junk. What makes them gather like this? Before I could explore that thought too far, a big object appeared on the scanner. That’s when those Teladi pilots commed us.
“You’d better follow ussss clossssely.”
“Yessss, it would be a sssshame if sssomething were to happen to you.”
The comms were cut before they were finished cackling. I hate Teladi. I’ve made the joke to Luna once how those lizard people were only good as a pair of boots. She looked so appalled, I’ve never made that joke since.
These two though, they’ve been heckling us ever since we were caught leaving that one Argon trade station. I wasn’t in good temper, Luna hasn’t helped, I was ready to kill something, and those two made mighty tempting targets. I was about to tell Luna this when something caught my eye just outside the windows.
Mines. There were mines everywhere! Some mines were even stacked on top of each other. I was almost afraid to breathe because those things were so tightly packed. Whose bright idea was this? It looked like one false step would set all those off. I pointed the mines out to Luna. It took her a good while to figure out what my concern was. She stopped breathing, I least I think she did. Her eyes went all wide searching for more of those things in the mist.
It wasn’t too long after we reached the minefield that we starting making our landing run on that large object our scanners picked up. As it solidified out of the red mist, I could see that it was just a pile of ships hastily welded together to make a station. Teladi sure are cheap. We were docked before long and our two guides were attempting to prod us out of our ship.
“Exit ssship now! Tertocamiusssssss Atessssychoro Bronusssssussseul IV will no tolerate any delay!”
That name was quite a mouthful. Mister Warden even seemed to struggle spouting that phonetically challenged abomination of a name. I gathered my walking stick and followed Luna out the hatch. Out on the dock were the two hecklers trying to look mean. They were about as threatening as a rampaging wet noodle. This just about made me laugh, instead a smirk appeared on my face. Those two didn’t like it one bit.
“You, leave sssstick here.”
“Come on now, I need it to walk,” I said.
“No, leave sssstick here.”
“Leave it Ugly. I pretty sure one of guards will be more than happy to carry you all the way to Tab’s office or where ever.”
“But Luna I nee-“
“Shut up Ugly. Put the stick back in the ship so we can get this little meeting over with. You with the spikes, you’re going to have to help him where ever we’re going.”
“I refusssse.”
“Oh really? That’s fine then. I bet ol’Tabby isn’t too keen on seeing us right now then, is he?”
“I ssssaid no delay!”
“No delay or stick. Your choice, you can’t have both.” That’s when she smiled again.
Those two glanced at each other, obviously a little taken aback by my counterpart’s resistance. I know what they were thinking, it was the same thought I’ve had so many times before. How could something so small and so unassuming look that threatening with a smile? I don’t think Luna has teeth either. It’s just a regular smile with just a hint of unimaginable horror behind it.
Our guards didn’t take too long deciding what to do. They let me hold onto my walking stick with a few grumbles. In a few mizuras we were on our way where ever and had an uneventful jaunt to Tabby’s office. Two more guards were standing outside the office door. These two looked a bit more threatening.
The door leading in was thick. As I walked through the doorway I took a glance at it. It was Terran green oak, newly crafted and stained with mahogany. I could smell the lumber used to make this door and it brought back memories of home. It also reminded me how far away home was and the fact I could never return. Inside was more wooden furniture, all Terran green oak and all stained in mahogany. Some of the pieces were inlaid with gold and nividium and all had masterful scrollwork carved into them. They were expensive and spoke volumes of the one who owned them. There in front of us sat a little lizard in a chair far too big for him.
“Hello Tabs. For what misconceived reason have you brought us here for today.” Luna asked through an expression that was somewhere between a smile and a snarl.
“Hello Luna. Take a … chair. Make … be comfortable. We have much to … talk about.” Tabs was trying to sound ominous, but with his feet dangling and those pauses in his speech, he was failing badly.
There was a couch, well more of a loveseat, situated right in front of him. It seemed only natural for us to sit there while talking to him. It groaned in protest as I settled my mass on it. Luna didn’t even elicit a squeak when she plopped down.
“I’m fairly … certain that you two are wondering why I brought you here today. Allow me to get … right down to … the point. Luna, I’ve received … a few … … peculiar …”
“Spit it out Tabs, you’ve already tested my patience for the day.” My little squidy friend snapped at him.
“I have … information that I found very intriguing about your … former job. I’ve called you here for … a bit of clarification.”
“Tabs I’ll let you know right now, you want no part of it.”
“My dear Luna, I do … very much want to be a part of it. Think what it could do for our … kind.”
I sat in my little corner of the couch. Even though I was fully lit by the overhead lights, I was still very much in the dark. Luna and Tabs verbally sparred back and forth with such words as research and glory around. When the words photosynthesis and glucose was used it finally shed a little light into the topic.
“Luna, are you a scientist?” I asked, curiosity thoroughly peaked. Of all the things I didn’t know about her, this was probably the biggest revelation I’ve gained so far.
“Kind of. Let me finish talking Ugly.” Luna tried to dismiss me. I wasn’t about to be so easily dismissed and let this chance for little insight pass me by. Tabs seemed to welcome a break in the conversation.
“What did you science about?”
“Ugly, science is not a verb. Please don’t say anything else to embarrass me. Now be quiet and let me finish talking to Tabs.”
I was going to press her a little further but she gave a very dangerous look. So I settled back into my comfy little corner and let them continue talking. I watched as my grasp on the conversation rapidly slip away. It was barely a few mizuras when I started getting sleepy and decided to rest my head on the sofa. As I threw my arm over the back of the couch, my hand landed in a bowl of some sort with stuff inside it. I glanced over and noticed a bunch of candies. Hiding my actions as best I could I picked one of them and quietly unwrapped it and then covertly put it in my mouth. I was all stealth like and no one noticed. It was Butterscotch Caramel Twist! Again I reached back and this time grabbed a fist full to put into one of my robe’s pockets. One of the guards noticed but didn’t say anything. A big grin appeared on his face though. With my ill gotten candies safely stored I began to remove my hand when it hit something else in my robes. It was the two data pads that shady gentleman gave me back at the bar. Two things were clearly visible: “Drake” and “Two Hundred Million”. That’s when Luna said something and brought my attention back to the conversation.
“And how do we come up with that amount of money?” She said with an intense stare locked on Tabs.
“I could bother my … manager for a few… uh … financial aid.”
“Yeah, he will be willing to shed few million credits for a bunch of misfits like us right?”
“I’m … confident that he will … be convinced.”
“‘Oh Tabs and Luna your idea just sounds grand! Here take everything I can spare and go forth to make the universe a better place!’” Luna spoke in the deepest voice she could muster and could barely contain her mirth as she finished speaking.
“He would help, you know that Luna.”
“That’s a load of crap and you know it, especially if he found out what we were looking for. There is no way we are coming up with a few hundred million credits in just a couple days!” She snapped at Tabs.
“Um,” I interrupted and instantly received two piercing gazes, “How about this?” I threw the two data pads on the table that separated us. In hindsight that was the worst mistake I’ve ever made since meeting Luna. Everybody in that room could clearly see the two hundred million bounty on the guy named Drake and everybody was dumbstruck by what they saw. Luna slowly swiveled her head to stare me straight in the eye with a mixed expression of “You stupid piece of crap” and “How the hell did you come across this?”.
“That would explain why your Dolphin … being heavily equipped. Do you really think you can pull it off?”
“Hold that thought Tabs while I beat some sense into my counterpart.”
“What did I do?” In the heat of the moment I had forgotten that Luna posed absolutely no physical threat to me. I still shied away from her.
“Tabs, our ship has no capability what so ever of capturing that man.”
“But the…”
“We have no missiles onboard. That was Ugly’s little prank on me for buying so many stuffed animals.”
“How did you figure…” I stammered.
“‘Oh Luna!!’“ She threw all her tentacles in the air and let them slowly cascade over the back of the couch. “‘I am so sorry for being such a jerk! Please accept my pitiful act of remorse as a genuine apology!’” She can be such a jerk, though now that I think of it my little act was pretty bad.
“You have no…”
“That’s right we have no weapons of any kind, Tabs.”
“Luna, we have my…” I began.
“Like I said. We. Have. No. Weapons. At all.” She very calmly told me. That was Luna’s code for “Shut the hell up Ugly”.
“I believe you are hiding… your ordnance.”
“No we aren’t. Ugly here can pick anything up and use it as ‘Ordnance’”
“Hmm, very well then.” He sounded very unconvinced
Fate has a X2 sagt Bussi auf Bauch nature. Just as Tabs finished speaking my Gladiator that I had originally order to follow oh so long ago, finally had caught up. It was the Teladi behind me that brought our attention to it.
“Incoming sssship through the mine fieldssss.” All the Teladi guards gathered near the window to look out at it. True to what he said, my Gladiator was cruising through the mine field without a care in the world.
“Ugly, please tell me that’s not your Gladiator.”
“It might be?”
Luna leaned forward onto her tentacles with what I believe were several quiet sobs. I could grasp just how serious this was, though I had no way of telling my ship to go away. In several mizuras it had cleared the mines without setting one off.
“Ssship hassss cleared minesss. Order the pilotsss to dessstroy sssship!”
“That’s not a good idea.” I said to slightly meaner looking bodyguard.
“Why?!” He snarled at me.
“It’s full of armed Heavy Tomahawk missiles.”
He just stared at me wide eyed, quite funny to be honest. “How do you know thisss? And why are they armed?!”
“I never figured how to disarm them and I was too… embarrassed to ask how.” I said with a forced smile. Everyone was just looking at me with their mouths open. “Maybe you should call your fighters off?”
Too late. Several lances of particle accelerator cannon fire ripped through the shields and then the hull. For a brief few seconds we were looking at a small sun. After it cleared, no signs of damage were visible anywhere and neither were the attacking ships.
“Damage report!” Screamed one of the Teladi.
“Nothing to report. Everything isss fine.” Came a high pitched reply from somewhere outside the room. A few scampering feet were heard as well. The one that screamed for the damage report stuck his head outside the door.
“Where are you all running to?”
“I believe they discovered that we’ve gained some velocity, courtesy of that explosion.” Luna put forward.
“And why doessss that concern usss?” Clearly his temper was running short.
Luna smiled, “We are surrounded by mines.”
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- Posts: 1995
- Joined: Fri, 25. Jun 04, 15:59
Ow...ow. Sorry, excuse me while I pick myself back up off the floor. Insane laughter can be quite painful...Sylthos wrote:They were about as threatening as a rampaging wet noodle.

Madder than a bastard on Fathers Day
My DiD Stories: Peace(s) of Eight (Inactive) - Way of the Gun [KIA] - Status: Online (Active)
An Illustrated Idiots Guide to CLS
My DiD Stories: Peace(s) of Eight (Inactive) - Way of the Gun [KIA] - Status: Online (Active)
An Illustrated Idiots Guide to CLS
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- Posts: 932
- Joined: Wed, 27. Oct 10, 03:15
Hey all,
Olterin has suggested that the game and the story currently require a suspension of disbelief to read and I have to agree with him. The argument is that Drake is in charge of a military that can, because of the long range missiles and torpedoes I have at my disposal, not only hold it's own against just about any military in the universe including the terrans, which should be an absurdity, but if I, the player, so chose I could take my forces and crush the entire Sol system. Now as a solution I could implement the MARS fire control turret script by Gazz:
http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=217470
http://www.hentschke-keramik.de/rmh/MARS_EN.pdf
but before I do I wanted to put it out in the forum and get some feedback. I mean this is a big change. Actually that doesn't say it clearly enough. This would be a HUGE change and I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to say what they think and offer suggestions.
For those of you who aren't aware MARS fire control is a turret script and command suite that primarily makes the turrets of a ship a LOT smarter. No longer will you see PPC cannons opening up with unrelenting fire against an M5 that they don't have a chance of actually hitting. Instead the script will automatically switch out and swap all weapons aboard the ship, utilizing every weapon in the cargo hold as it attempts to destroy a target. That means that if a ship has PBE's in it's hold and a fast moving M5 or missile is threatening it MARS will swap out the CIGs, install the PBE's and vaporize the missile before swapping the CIGs back in to pound on the slower moving capital ship. It's really a brilliant script and with that function alone makes the majority of the missiles in the game ineffective and that's without using the Gremlins. What are Gremlins? Gremlins are very smart fighter drones that MARS can use to deploy satellites, retrieve salvage and prehaps most importantly intercept long range missiles.
So if used this will dramatically change the gameplay.The instant I install MARS every capital ship in the game will be able to effectively counter many if not all of the missiles fired at them. If I allow other ships to actually use the full script missiles and torpedoes will become useless against a vast number of targets. Now while this negates the absurd advantage that I've cultivated as a player it also means that boarding will change and change drastically. I will never again be able to use boarding pods to capture enemy vessels without first disabling their weapons.
Now I don't mind this. In fact I think that if I go through with it the game will become challenging and exciting again. At any rate I just wanted to give everyone the opportunity to say their piece before I made any kind of final decision.
Thanks so much.
Cheers
Olterin has suggested that the game and the story currently require a suspension of disbelief to read and I have to agree with him. The argument is that Drake is in charge of a military that can, because of the long range missiles and torpedoes I have at my disposal, not only hold it's own against just about any military in the universe including the terrans, which should be an absurdity, but if I, the player, so chose I could take my forces and crush the entire Sol system. Now as a solution I could implement the MARS fire control turret script by Gazz:
http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=217470
http://www.hentschke-keramik.de/rmh/MARS_EN.pdf
but before I do I wanted to put it out in the forum and get some feedback. I mean this is a big change. Actually that doesn't say it clearly enough. This would be a HUGE change and I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to say what they think and offer suggestions.
For those of you who aren't aware MARS fire control is a turret script and command suite that primarily makes the turrets of a ship a LOT smarter. No longer will you see PPC cannons opening up with unrelenting fire against an M5 that they don't have a chance of actually hitting. Instead the script will automatically switch out and swap all weapons aboard the ship, utilizing every weapon in the cargo hold as it attempts to destroy a target. That means that if a ship has PBE's in it's hold and a fast moving M5 or missile is threatening it MARS will swap out the CIGs, install the PBE's and vaporize the missile before swapping the CIGs back in to pound on the slower moving capital ship. It's really a brilliant script and with that function alone makes the majority of the missiles in the game ineffective and that's without using the Gremlins. What are Gremlins? Gremlins are very smart fighter drones that MARS can use to deploy satellites, retrieve salvage and prehaps most importantly intercept long range missiles.
So if used this will dramatically change the gameplay.The instant I install MARS every capital ship in the game will be able to effectively counter many if not all of the missiles fired at them. If I allow other ships to actually use the full script missiles and torpedoes will become useless against a vast number of targets. Now while this negates the absurd advantage that I've cultivated as a player it also means that boarding will change and change drastically. I will never again be able to use boarding pods to capture enemy vessels without first disabling their weapons.
Now I don't mind this. In fact I think that if I go through with it the game will become challenging and exciting again. At any rate I just wanted to give everyone the opportunity to say their piece before I made any kind of final decision.
Thanks so much.
Cheers
A Pirate's Story.pdf(KIA) by _Zap _ From Nothing.PDF(complete) by _Zap _ Prodigal Son(active) Original Thread, Prodigal Son_PDF
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- Posts: 1995
- Joined: Fri, 25. Jun 04, 15:59
I have to say, as a MARS user myself...well I love it, basically. My immediate thought is yes, you should use it, both because it will make the game more difficult (and it really, really will
) and because with Improved Races already installed there will likely be enough capital ships to make it fun.
Also, since you have Improved Boarding installed, boarding pod captures are not the only way. With the Boarding Transporter Extension installed, any ship that can carry marines can be used as a boarding platform.
Imagine, the Credo et Amo broadsiding a Pirate Carrack, and during the fight slips 20 mercs aboard to slaughter the crew! It adds a whole new dimension to the game, one that I have found to be immense fun.
EDITl <- cos I forgot
One thing worth noting, from a story point of view. You've installed MEFOS which I'm reasonably sure isn't compatible with MARS, and hired a bunch of NPCs to crew the gunnery posts on all the ships. Assuming the two scripts aren't compatible, what's likely to happen to those crew members?


Also, since you have Improved Boarding installed, boarding pod captures are not the only way. With the Boarding Transporter Extension installed, any ship that can carry marines can be used as a boarding platform.
Imagine, the Credo et Amo broadsiding a Pirate Carrack, and during the fight slips 20 mercs aboard to slaughter the crew! It adds a whole new dimension to the game, one that I have found to be immense fun.
EDITl <- cos I forgot

One thing worth noting, from a story point of view. You've installed MEFOS which I'm reasonably sure isn't compatible with MARS, and hired a bunch of NPCs to crew the gunnery posts on all the ships. Assuming the two scripts aren't compatible, what's likely to happen to those crew members?
Madder than a bastard on Fathers Day
My DiD Stories: Peace(s) of Eight (Inactive) - Way of the Gun [KIA] - Status: Online (Active)
An Illustrated Idiots Guide to CLS
My DiD Stories: Peace(s) of Eight (Inactive) - Way of the Gun [KIA] - Status: Online (Active)
An Illustrated Idiots Guide to CLS
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- Posts: 7229
- Joined: Tue, 29. Dec 09, 02:15
What's really, truly, awe inspiringly scary, is that it's not even necessary to give the AI ships MARS. With JUST the Missile Defense Mk2 script active on the enemy ships, I found myself unable to board using missiles. They'd simply wait to the last moment and shoot down one hammer which would cascade the entire swarm. I pumped a forty Hammer Salvo out of a Minotaur and the target knocked down one and kept on coming. It's a bloody horrifying feeling, being unsure if you're going to get the jumpdrive on line in time to get out of there because you're completely impotent.
INSTALL IT NOW!
Ahem. But don't let the AI use MARS itself until you see how you like it. Goblins are pretty awesome. Best way to pick up spoils. PERIOD. Particularly based off of a TL.
INSTALL IT NOW!
Ahem. But don't let the AI use MARS itself until you see how you like it. Goblins are pretty awesome. Best way to pick up spoils. PERIOD. Particularly based off of a TL.
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Thanks. I've used it before. I remember that the instant it was installed, regardless of whether I officially gave the AI permission to use MARS, all enemy ships became obscenely difficult to hit with heavy missiles or torpedoes. The enemy turrets would ignore the flails for the hammers and ignore everything for a firestorm or a hammerhead. It was scary. I mean a constant barrage of typhoons is still very dangerous, but only by overwhelming the enemies defenses. Which I grant you is the way it should be.
I think I have my answer, though. I'll give it another day or so to allow everyone the opportunity to say something but I do like the idea. It'll level the playing field. You do realize, though, that there will be a lot more casualties in the future? Combat will be a lot closer and a lot more costly. Honestly I'm kinda psyched. LOL
I think I have my answer, though. I'll give it another day or so to allow everyone the opportunity to say something but I do like the idea. It'll level the playing field. You do realize, though, that there will be a lot more casualties in the future? Combat will be a lot closer and a lot more costly. Honestly I'm kinda psyched. LOL
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Something you could also do is initially is take a prototype of it off of the TYR and have your techies fully develop it. that way at first only you will have it and then you can give a bigger purpose to the *i believe* incoming spies.... just saying 

There are 2 types of people in the world. Those that pee in the shower and those dirty f****ng liars.
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That's actually the Missile Defense Mk2 script at work. And it can be turned off, or toned down in the Artificial Life settings. I turn it off if I'm allowing AI ships to use MARS.
MARS and MEFOS are actually compatible, you just can't use them both on the same turret. Plus I'm sure someone as smart as SD can talk his way around minor technical issues like that anyway.
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Commodore's Log, Ea't s'Quid: Captain/Pirate/Purveyor of Seafood.
Split Bored. Drake holed up on ship with beautiful woman. Ea't holed up on ship wanting have Fish Fry. Wish Drake come up for air, give order, Make Sushi....
MARS and MEFOS are actually compatible, you just can't use them both on the same turret. Plus I'm sure someone as smart as SD can talk his way around minor technical issues like that anyway.
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Commodore's Log, Ea't s'Quid: Captain/Pirate/Purveyor of Seafood.
Split Bored. Drake holed up on ship with beautiful woman. Ea't holed up on ship wanting have Fish Fry. Wish Drake come up for air, give order, Make Sushi....
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
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Dovie'andi se tovya sagain
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016
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I like where you're going with that. I think at first, though, I'm gonna see if I can set it up so that only certain enemies have it. I don't know if that's possible but I fully intend to give it to the bad guys first.angelofshadows wrote:Something you could also do is initially is take a prototype of it off of the TYR and have your techies fully develop it. that way at first only you will have it and then you can give a bigger purpose to the *i believe* incoming spies.... just saying

Thanks mate. I didn't know any of that. Maybe this time I'll actually read the bloody instruction manual ... er, PDF. I did want to offer any interested the opportunity to see MARS in action so they'd know what we're talking about.Triaxx2 wrote:That's actually the Missile Defense Mk2 script at work. And it can be turned off, or toned down in the Artificial Life settings. I turn it off if I'm allowing AI ships to use MARS.
MARS and MEFOS are actually compatible, you just can't use them both on the same turret. Plus I'm sure someone as smart as SD can talk his way around minor technical issues like that anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCew9aS7zGM
The video is in German but you can figure it out if you're interested. Right around the six minute mark is a demonstration of how effective the Goblins are at intercepting missiles. It has nothing to do with the turret script. It's just the Goblins, but as is evident missiles and torpedoes are going to be dramatically less effective.
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Cool, I thought I'd read on one of their respective threads that they weren't, but it was some time ago now. Regarding gunnery crews, yeah of course Scion can get around it, I was just asking. They could stay aboard the ships to simulate changing weapons over etc. Was just a thought.Triaxx2 wrote:MARS and MEFOS are actually compatible, you just can't use them both on the same turret. Plus I'm sure someone as smart as SD can talk his way around minor technical issues like that anyway.
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An Illustrated Idiots Guide to CLS
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An Illustrated Idiots Guide to CLS
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Yeah, it's only really given a passing mention in the manual. It makes capturing most Paranid ships an exercise in futility and any other race an exercise in frustration. Add in the hilariously effective Goblin Missile Defense on the player end, and hoo boy.
Of course with IR, it's necessary, but still.
Of course with IR, it's necessary, but still.
A Pirate's Revenge Completed Now in PDF by _Zap_
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016
The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain
APR Book 2: Best Served Cold Updated 8/5/2016
The Tale of Ea't s'Quid Completed
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain