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- Music:Kenji Ito - Wakatu
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Now playing: Hideaki Kobayashi - Pray, for IDOLA the distorted
via FoxyTunes
- Music:Hideaki Kobayashi - Revolution to the origin Part 2
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Now playing: Yoko Shimomura - Ursula's Revenge
via FoxyTunes
- Music:Yoko Shimomura - Ursula's Revenge
- Mood:
sore
I'm not completely at a loss for the day as I ended up adding lines here and there to flesh in details after posting an excerpt last night and realizing it didn't quite make sense. My official tally thus far is 5,579 and I've gone back to handwriting as I finished the scene I was working on. It seems that I work faster by hand sometimes and of course I always add more detail during transcription.
(I actually let the random userpic button decide what icon I'd use today.)
I didn't plan on it taking so long but a tertiary character who popped up on the spot decided to be snarky with the ultra-bitchy, high ranking officer in the room. Said officer could have ordered her body guards to slaughter everyone in the briefing (not that they would have actually won that battle) and she could get away with it. Yes, her rank is that much higher then everyone else. She's snotty, extremely arrogant and it's basically her job to be an insufferable asshole. The only reason a fight didn't break out on the spot was because I didn't feel like writing one.
Oh yes and she just
The result is a day-2 count of 4,042.
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Now playing: Elton John - The One
via FoxyTunes
I thought of a faster then light travel system for the humans and I'm actually a bit proud of myself to have two travel types that work in-verse which are substantially different from one another. Okay, technically there are 3 but the wormhole gate and the Hylin slipspace drive work on the same basic principle - getting yourself and your ship transformed into raw information and zoomed through space via an information sub-dimension.
I envision the in-verse structure such that what we consider normal space sits on top with a layer of dark matter/dark energy separating it from the slipspace net "underneath" which forms the underlayer for that universe. I would say all the universes intersect in a manner corresponding to them being planes within a giant sphere but that wouldn't be accurate. In fact, it's hard to vizualize the intersecting dimensions. The flow of information is limited within normal space to the speed of light (unless using a method that warps the dimensions of space itself) which makes it necessary to leave these confines to move information at a faster rate. It's the same impetus behind Hyperspace but I'm trying to shy away from conventional sci-fi hyperspace models.
Anyway, the human's main form of FTL travel within a star system is a Line Driver. Essentially it's a dark energy pulse established between two stationary points (that is, their movement keeps them in the same frame of reference to each other as the points are machines). The space in between the two points is then depressed with a gravity superstring. Think of it like taking a piece of paper, holding two sides, and pressing gently into the center. The two points can be brought closer together temporarily. The craft travels using the pulse to prevent it from being dragged into the superstring.
There is a serious danger with this technology. Since space itself is being warped there is a real danger that objects can collide. The Line Driver can thus only be activated in open and empty space. It takes more energy to compensate for the gravity of a large body anyway so the Driver, even at the maximum energy output it has been designed for, fails to build the superstring to begin with. I think that's a reasonable safety measure although it doesn't prevent smaller objects - like asteroids - from falling into the well.
- Mood:
bored
Lady Abaxa explains:
How the Dark Wizard game run will work and how you the viewers can participate in it.
For those unfamiliar with the game it is a tactical strategy simulation not unlike Shining Force. You choose one of 4 rulers and try to retake the land from the forces of evil that have subjugated it. Each ruler represents one of the 4 "alignments" in the game world. They all have access to the same mercenary set but each ruler has a different set of summonable monsters.
I'll now go through each leader and explain the pros and cons of each one.
First up: Armer the 9th. This is the good beginner's character. Lawful leader with balanced stats.
Next: Robin lacks magical power but is a good fighter herself. Lawful leader and the only one with two male lieutenants. (Uses neutral dragons.)
Third: Amon represents the Undead and is probably the most difficult to use. He is the only leader with the ability to fly.
Finally: Krystal rounds things out as the Chaotic leader. She's a magic-user and is very weak in hand-to-hand combat.
!-- Armer difficulty select --!
There's no Hard setting. All it does is change the number of starting soldiers anyway so no big deal.
SKIP!
!-- Mercenary hiring options --!
Humans: average at everything, chaos race
Elves: good at offensive magic and using bows, neutral race
Dwarves: very strong, good at combat, lawful race
Hobbit: high faith, good healers, lawful race
Armer, being lawful, can only hire lawful and neutral soldiers.
! -- Monster summoning options --!
Dragon Pup: firebreathing dragons, cannot fly
Serpent: sea unit, high HPs, slow on land
Unicorn: average, high movement, damage bonus VS undead
Centaur: range unit, high movement
Roc: fire-spitting bird, high movement but low HPs
!-- Armer's stats --!
High Faith means that healers are more effective and Armer's is the highest in the game otherwise stats are pretty average overall. He has, by far, the best economic growth in the game and can afford to hire a large army early on. This is good because his monsters leave something to be desired.
He has a decent spell selection with Massheal for the early stages. Armer can fight on the front lines fairly well and toss out direct damage spells. In essence he's the "everyman" of the game and does not excel at anything.
SKIP!
!-- Mercenary hiring options --!
Robin has the same options for mercenaries that Armer does.
! -- Monster summoning options --!
Dragon Pup: neutral, ice-breathing dragons
Serpent: same as Armer's
Hippogriff: a flying, direct combat beast, gets a damage bonus against some other units in the game
Centaur: same as Armer's
Roc: again, same as Armer's
!-- Robin's stats --!
Luck isn't terribly useful in this game and Command and Lead are rather ambiguously integrated into the game. What do they do exactly? No idea. Economic and magical strength, however, are weak. Robin's a bruiser.
Spell selection is weak. She is the only leader that doesn't have one spell that cures all status ailments and can only cure paralysis and stone. Armer has Refresh while Krystal and Amon have Megarestore. Also, Windbolt is a rather meh direct-damage spell. She is extremely dependent upon her mercenaries for magical assistance.
SKIP!
!-- Mercenary hiring options --!
Unchanged but Amon can only hire neutral and chaotic followers.
! -- Monster summoning options --!
Skeleton: non-magical bruisers weak VS fire
Ghost: can only use a paralyzing attack with low accuracy at low levels
Dragon Pup: undead dragons that use an earth-elemental breath weapon, arguably the weakest of the dragon types
Hydra: chaotic sea unit, otherwise same as a Serpent
Manticore: the chaotic version of the Hippogriff
Hell Hound: high movement, average stats, can also paralyze foes
Lesser Harpy: flying, high movement, low HPs, can spit ice, best in swarms
!-- Amon's stats --!
0 Belief means his healers SUUUCK! Amon makes up for it with high magical ability and the ability to incapacitate foes with so many paralyzing monsters. Starts with little money and economic growth is so-so.
He knows a variety of direct-damage and buff/debuff spells. Vampire and Night Shield can keep him on the front lines for quite awhile without having to fall back on Megarestore. Blade Storm is lots of fun to use since it has infinite casting range.
SKIP!
!-- Mercenary hiring options --!
Like Amon she hires neutral and chaotic mercenaries.
! -- Monster summoning options --!
Dragon Pup: fire-breathing dragon that can fly once it reaches tier 3
Hydra: same as Amon's
Chimera: the 3rd monster in the Hippogriff/Manticore/Chimera trifecta
Cockatrice: somewhat slow, fairly high HP beast with a stoning special attack, Stone is useful (doesn't wear off) but low accuracy until higher levels.
Lesser Harpy: same as Amon's
!-- Krystal's stats --!
Economic power is either based on Command/Lead or her economic stat is a typo because she is the worst in that department. She starts with a little more gold then Amon but the slow income growth means she can't go wild with mercenaries.
However, Krystal is the BEST caster out of the four. She knows the most spells and her intellect and magic strength are the highest. Blizzard Breath does no damage but can freeze targets. Vortex damages them and teleports them to a random hex a certain distance away. Also, unlike Amon she can cast Massheal. As is typical for a magic she's squishy and needs something to stand between her and the enemy.
!-- Postscript --!
So, here's what I need to know from you, the viewers. Who shall I play as? Will I be recruiting the two lieutenants for that leader? What monsters and mercenaries to use and how many? Finally, God's Castle yea or nay?
There *might* be a day or two gap where there are no new episodes of Ogre Battle to post and that means no new episodes of Langrisser 2 either. That game isn't a problem. I have 53 recorded segments but I have to go back and redo battles 26 and X4. I still haven't triggered the requirements for Egbert to offer entrance to X4 and it's still bugging me. I've gotten the total turn count, including secret scenarios 1-3 down to a total of 183 before starting stage 26. I might be able to trim a few more off but it's really getting hard to shave off even a single turn. The problem isn't killing enemies - oh no, my characters are absolutely ridiculously powerful - but getting to them quickly.
Hmm, the earlier stages where Riana is present it's possible for her to Teleport herself across the battlefield. There are still some possibilities with that. The stage numbers I've flagged for review are: 5, 7, 12, X1, 17, 18, X2, 21, and 22 thru 25 with stages 24 and 25 having been my chief grinding areas. My current fastest completion time is currently 2 turns for stage 7 followed closely by 3 turns for stages 4, 9, and X3. Stage 21 looks to be the most challenging in terms of speedrunning because it is a Kill All objective, most of the team has to move through deep water to reach any enemies, opponents are spread out all over the field, and reinforcements show up on turn 9.
She was flying. Sensations of wind rippling over her skin were almost more then she could bear. A new awareness gripped her senses and the void filled with light and darkness, scent and form that assembled to form the dark sky.
Nadine fixed her new eyes forward, felt them turn by her will, and was filled with renewed rage and memories of pain that stretched from her shoulder down her chest. Her blood hungered for something she couldn’t quite understand.
Dark shapes in the sky with her drew her wide eyes. She transfixed on them as they darted about and assembled into formation on the horizon. That was her enemy. For an instant she remembered struggling against them and feeling their weapons tear into her flesh. “No,” Nadine whispered, pushing the foreign memory away. “I, what am I doing?” Pain surged through her body. She reached out trying to grasp the fading light in her mind and cried as it slipped away.
The hunger beckoned again. She needed to feed, to nourish her body and heal her wounds. At her behest her body swooped down snapping up a dark object, she didn’t care what it was, and tore it apart. Nadine’s heart raced. The bitter taste in her mouth broke the hold she had with the sky and she fell back into the darkness watching outside of herself as the creature slipped through the air.
The burning rage called her back to the sky. She resisted, uncertain. “What should I do? Where am I?”
The musical voice answered her, there in the darkness. It spoke from all around and from within her. We are one now. Your thoughts will become our actions.
“What, what are you?” She reached through the haze groping blindly for the light that had fled from her. She had her name but, she sensed, there was more out there just out of reach if only she could summon the strength to make it there. “What have you done to me?”
The creature came to a halt in mid-air and hung there silently watching the distant formation approach. Nadine felt it pulling her out of the darkness. We are Voloth. You too are Voloth now. Na-dine. It struggled with her name. Give your anger to us now.
Nadine saw through the dark haze the craft approaching them. She shut her eyes, wishing that it was all a dream and that she would wake up any second safe and sound. Her pain melted away and in an instant the identity Nadine knew was gone. The whole sky opened before her. Wind raced over her wings. Her thoughts expanded to numbers, graphs, lists, charts, and data. With but a thought she beat her new wings and opened them to their maximum span knowing as she did that all the power that was housed in this body was hers for the taking if she but willed it.
She laughed, the chiming chuckle of Voloth, and engaged the micro-missile launchers built into the wings. Hundreds of missiles fired at once in a storm that raced from Voloth to the formation. Her enemies broke into wild evasive maneuvers as they scattered in every direction. Chaff was deployed catching most of the projectiles in their deceptive wake. Voloth tracked each one that carried through and slammed into it’s target. Individually the missiles lacked enough punch to bring an enemy down but the brutal onslaught demolished the enemy ranks. Those that survived limped away with all possible haste towards a large ship in the upper atmosphere.
Voloth watched. Voloth waited. There were other explosions in the night sky. A cry rippled through the girl. Her eyes snapped open. She remembered her name. “No,” she whispered. “I’m me.” She fled from Voloth into the darkness and knew it was listening to her every breath.
“I’m me,” she repeated. “Oh gods what have I done? Please, why can’t I remember?” She recoiled into her own slumbering body and woke inside a gentle tangle of flesh and steel that held her close. There were consoles at eye level illuminated with a pale blue light that displayed the very information she saw only moments before.
We survive. This is a new life for us. Welcome, Nadine.
“I don’t want this!” She struggled not to be drawn back into the slumber.
You don’t know what you want. We can feel the uncertainty clouding your mind. Let go of it and the truth will guide you.
“What are you?”
We are Voloth. We are the wind and sky made flesh. The voice faded, strained, cried out in pain. When next Voloth spoke the voice shifted noticeably to a lower pitch that Nadine recognized as a more masculine form. You may call me Voloth, or whatever name you like. As long as it takes away the pain you feel right now ... ugh.
“Ok, think Nadine. You’ve got to calm down. Think. Try to remember what you were doing an hour ago. What was I doing an hour ago? Oh, my head.” She clutched her temples in agony as the pain swept back through. The restraints on her arms stretched with her movements even as the thick flesh held her chest and legs fast. “Voloth why can’t I remember anything? Please tell me.”
You are adapting. This was necessary. Sorrow slipped into it’s voice. I am also adapting. Your mind, it’s so foreign to me. Your language has rules that contradict with itself. Words are failing me Nadine. I don’t know how to express these feelings in a way that you will understand. Voloth became still.
“Why me?” Nadine pushed against the mental wall again. If she squinted she could just barely see figures staring back at her from beyond it. “I know I had a life before this. Why did you choose me?” Voloth remained silent; suspended in the cold night air. She felt it’s breath and knew it was still alive.
Nadine’s anger boiled over. “Tell me Voloth! Why did you choose me?”
We are yet incomplete. The voiced shifted back into the slightly masculine form. It’s speech slowed. Each word was painfully articulated. I am damaged Nadine. Time has robbed me of so much: the others first, then my freedom, and slowly my ability to remember the sky. Damaged, yes, I feel pain. Your voice Nadine. When I heard it I had to go to it. It called me. You are beautiful. It paused. I am so very tired now. I was sleeping peacefully then I was woken by this terrible pain. Are our enemies gone?
Nadine’s eyes widened in alarm. “What are you saying? Have you completely lost your mind Voloth?”
My mind. The creature began to laugh merrily. So many wonderful emotions. I am so happy to have met you Nadine. I don’t have to be alone now. Joyous tears erupted from the great avian eyes. It cried out in a bright, harmonious song and beat it’s wings. I owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude. The voice shifted back to the blending of many. We owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you.
The young woman didn’t know what to say to that. “Um, thanks. Glad that I could help. Now what about my memories? Will they ever return?”
Voloth relaxed into a serene calm. Yes, your memories. It is only a matter of time. The block in your mind is temporary. It exists to give you a chance to adapt and prevent a feedback loop while we copy the data encoded within your brain for a detailed analysis. Nadine gasped in alarm. Fear not. The memories that make you an individual have not been altered in any way. It is data we require to calibrate our systems and ensure the network performs at an optimal level. We apologize for the discomfort this causes but it is acceptable given the circumstances.
Voloth retracted it’s wings into a sitting pose with it’s tail curled up. It drifted slightly in the wind which tossled it’s long feathers. The air above Barclay was quiet save for a few craft that flew by the prone Akutenshi and continued on their way.
Nadine there are other aircraft in the vicinity. We have expended all ammunition. If more then a few engage us in battle there will be little choice but to withdraw.
“Is it more of the enemy?” Nadine shuddered at the thought that she might be pulled back through the darkness into the eyes of Voloth.
Unknown craft. They have not taken hostile action and are departing to the east. It is highly likely they are part of the defensive force.
Nadine let herself see out of her counterpart’s eyes, feeling it coo as their minds brushed up against one another. In the distance, in the green shades of Voloth’s nightvision, she could see the faintest movement heading away from them. “Where were they when we needed them?”
There has been constant communication amongst the defensive forces. The dialects are awkward and we didn’t understand most of what they were saying but it is our understanding that they were deployed to counteract an offensive sent against this human habitation.
Nadine blinked. “You’ve been listening all this time?”
Affirmative. Radio monitoring was necessary to keep track of the situation.
“Why didn’t you bother telling me?”
It was deemed tactically unnecessary. The communications array is currently functioning at minimal levels. We can hear them but cannot transmit on any frequency.
Nadine grumbled and shrugged it off. She felt herself slipping back in control of Voloth. Below them the city was quiet. She wished to look upon it and felt, as surely and naturally as she would have her own head, Voloth’s respond to her will. Fires burned here and there in the city. Most were small blazes being brought under control but there was one that blazed brightly in the thin spit of land that split what was once one great lake in two. It reached so high as to cast long shadows out over the water. Nadine watched the blue twinkling waves for a long time.
Here and there amongst the houses a light shone. When she tired of the waves Nadine counted the number that were born and died away again wondering what the people inside them were doing at such a late hour.
Voloth was quiet the whole time. Nadine felt it twitching it’s tail in slow, rhythmic swishes. She was cold. Her skin was like ice. When she thought about it she realized it was not her skin, but Voloth’s cooled by such long exposure to the biting wind. “Voloth. I’m tired.”
Understood. The serpent-like bird slipped through the sky headed towards a level forest to the west. Skimming the canopy Voloth flew in soft, undulating waves with slow and steady beats from it’s wings. In places where the forest canopy grew especially tall it’s claws clipped the tops of the trees sending birds scattering every which way.
Nadine could feel the simple joy her counterpart experienced in flight. Flashes of distant places appeared in her mind: snowy mountains, parched deserts, pale snowfields, towering spires of sparkling white, rolling green hills, showering blue waterfalls, and clouds of every imaginable shape and size. It was all too fast for her to make sense out of. She watched just trying to remember bits and pieces for later.
The next thing she knew of the real world Voloth was descending on a little hill where the trees thinned out. It slowed for the descent with furious wing beats sending a wave of rushing wind down the slope. Trees rattled. The grass swayed in green waves. Voloth came to rest on it’s claws and was steady.
Nadine wished for rest and her counterpart responded by curling up on the ridge watching the stars drift towards morning. Voloth waited until the girl was asleep before putting his own head down. He cawed softly, folded his wings tight and slipped into the peaceful slumber of assurance that he would soon awaken to new, radiant day.
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Now playing: Yoko Shimomura - Desire for All That is Lost
via FoxyTunes
BOOM!
There could be some interesting hypothetical effects from doing that. If the FTL-moving object is large enough it's gravity alone would wreak havoc. It get's even more interesting if you have to convert the FTL-moving object into dark energy/matter or anti-matter in order to achieve the effect. What if the FTL method is actually distorting space itself? Can two objects collide or merge together while space is warped?
That, in and of itself, is an intriguing idea for a sci-fi story.
In my concept of slipspace there is a gravity distortion generated upon entering or leaving slipspace. The wave is proportional to the mass of the object entering/exiting. For this reason if there are multiple objects the largest has to be the last to enter and the first to leave or the distortion it generates could destroy the smaller objects. Imagine the utter havoc endured to learn that fact. ^.^
Dr. Cobalt breathed hard against the salt in the air and the bitter cold. A thin layer of ice and snow still coated the streets despite the best efforts of the sweeper bots to keep pathways clear. The almost slipped as he stopped to put on his gloves but steadied himself with his cane and kept working.
Every fifty feet down the street a single mild blue light glowed above until terminating into utter darkness a few hundred feet down the walkway. As the doctor made his way into the night the lights blinked on and off in response to his movement. It was a narrow road unsuited to anything but pedestrians, bicycles, and their ilk. Around him the city settled into sleep – powering down as best it could while still coping with the bitter northern winter common to this sub-arctic region.
He was halfway home when his phone rang. The doctor fished it out of his coat pocket. “Hello?” The slender plastic frame was like ice despite his gloves.
“Dr. Cobalt?” The voice on the other end was a gruff male’s.
“Yes, who am I speaking to?”
“We are aware of your scheme doctor. If you hand over the chip quietly there won’t be any trouble for you or your family.”
“Who is this?”
The man on the other end paused, breathing heavily. “The rightful owners of the chip doctor. I will be waiting at Tenth and Penbrook station for the next hour. Don’t force me to track you down doctor. You’re an easy man to find.”
That was the end of the conversation. Before Dr. Cobalt could begin a new question the other man hung up. He stood there holding the phone as light snow began to fall. A sweeper bot brushed against his leg as it zoomed down the street. He watched it go, shivering.
Twenty minutes later he arrived in the station via the podline. It was a small station with no more then ten people total including workers. The arched skylight ceiling was already covered in a film of snow. Dr. Cobalt walked slowly through the plaza looking about from under his hat with a suspicious glare. As he approached the newsstand – customary vid screen black as the stand itself was shut down for the night – a man stepped out of the shadows and approached him.
“You must be the doctor.”
Dr. Cobalt nodded with the barest movement of his head. The stranger was wrapped in a thick fur overcoat with matching cap. The only visible features were his alert, pale-green eyes and the tip of his nose.
“Good,” the stranger continued. “You’re a smart man I see. Now, doctor, what happened to the information stolen from the Matilda database?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The other man grinned. “You’re a decent liar, doctor, but your pulse and breathing both shot up with my question. I’ll only ask one more time. What happened to that information?”
The doctor shook his head. “I don’t have any such data and,” he sneered, “even if I did I certainly wouldn’t give it to someone like you.”
Slowly nodding the stranger reached into his coat and pulled out a slim piece of plastic. “I just want you to know the extend of the trouble you are in Dr. Cobalt.” He handed the doctor the item, which proved to be an identification card, before continuing. “I am Louis Strevenska of I.R.C.I. Several complaints have been leveled against you alleging industrial sabotage, data theft, and conspiracy. These are serious charges that carry a maximum penalty of up to thirty years in prison and a hefty fine. However,” he paused to remove his cap, “the Bureau is willing to show leniency and forget what happened if you cooperate.”
The doctor handed the man his identification back. “I’m sorry Mr. Strevenska but I don’t know what you’re talking about. Me, perform industrial sabotage? You flatter me but I’m a simple archaeologist.”
Leering with an unnatural glow in his eyes Mr. Strevenska studied the doctor in silence. Finally he broke the silence between them. “Your heart rate is still high”
Dr. Cobalt tipped his hat back a bit. “I am an old man. My heart startles easily.”
“I believe the old part.” Mr. Strevenska reached into his coat again. “I’ll have to ask you to come with me doctor.” He deliberately opened the coat wide enough so that Dr. Cobalt could see a pair of firearms – one a small phase blaster and the other a conventional gunpowder weapon – tucked into a holster slung from one shoulder. Then he produced a small device with a thin needle on one end. It was half the size of his hand. The doctor gulped as the agent slipped a tiny chip into the device and readied it.
“No trouble now, right? I wouldn’t want anything bad to befall you.”
Dr. Cobalt’s mind raced with options. He was unarmed. If he bolted for the front door Mr. Strevenska would easily have enough time to fire either of his weapons and in the nearly-deserted station there was no cover to be found. He had heard tales of I.R.C.I. agents killing with impunity, their word held in high enough regard that whatever the circumstances they would emerge from any scandal unscathed with songs of praise from justice personnel about stopping another dread menace to society. The thought made him physically ill.
The doctor blinked and his moment to consider the situation was spent. Mr. Strevenska watched him unflinching. “Your arm doctor.”
Doing as he was ordered the doctor exposed his right forearm. He grimaced with the needle prick then placed two bare fingers from his other hand to stem the tiny red droplets seeping up from his punctured vein. The other man removed the needle from his device and placed it in a small plastic vial that retreated into the hidden pockets under the coat.
“See, that didn’t hurt much now did it? The tag guns have gotten remarkably better in the last decade. Just a little prick and tagging is complete. Now,” he motioned towards the door, “after you.”
The doctor glared with icy blue eyes from under his hat brim but did as he was instructed. He walked with deliberate slowness dreading with each step the cold, solitary darkness outside where no one would see if he met an untimely end. “Mr. Strevenska,” he stumbled for words. “I must profess my innocence. Surely you do not believe that I am capable of the charges leveled against me.”
“I believe a lot of things not the least of which is the capacity for any man to betray those trusting him in the name of self-interest. Every one of them pleads his innocence up until he is shown the mountain of evidence that says otherwise. A few continue but most confess and accept their just punishments. So, doctor, while we walk you have some time to think about how you want to handle this situation. If you continue to lie it will only hurt your family even more.
“Consider,” he stepped up into stride with the doctor, “what your precious daughter will have to go through if her esteemed father is exposed as a traitor to Etol. The ridicule and scorn will follow her for the rest of her life. No matter where she goes there will always be that seed of doubt about just how much she takes after her dear old dad. Surely you don’t want that Doctor Cobalt. She’s a bright young lass with a good future ahead of her. I’d hate to think what a scandal would do to her chances to enter a good school.”
Mr. Strevenska sneered with the snapping leer of a jackal patiently taunting dying prey. “All of this can go away and all it will cost you is a little time and information. If you return the stolen data, intact, and provide the names of your accomplices I’m sure this will all be sorted out as a big misunderstanding and you can get back to your research with all possible haste.”
The two men continued walking the narrow, snow-coated streets of Little York in silence. Mr. Strevenska pulled a stride ahead keeping his eyes fixed forward but ears always on the doctor. Warily the older man watched the scattered individuals filing about the city.
When they stopped by a parked podcar letting passengers off Dr. Cobalt saw his opportunity. He slipped as close to the compact white rail car as he dared without arousing suspicion. Mr. Strevenska whistled impatiently. A woman struggling with her bags glared at him. Dr. Cobalt offered her a hand but she snapped at him and hustled away.
Mr. Strevenska waited for the doctor to board first then followed him to relax into the padded leather seat. What he couldn’t see was that the doctor had a signal override palmed in his left hand. It was a small box of metal and plastic with three simple buttons in different colors. The signal override was a device that was supposed to be restricted solely for use by peace officers. Slowly and carefully the doctor flicked it’s power switch on and prayed it was already set to the right frequency.
He waited for his moment when the car started moving again. Down one block they went, then a second. One button press brought the trip to a screeching halt. Mr. Strevenska snapped to attention. He growled in a thick Thrayan accent, “Damn cheap cars. Always having problems.” Fumbling with the control panel he cursed under his breath. The doctor was about to hit the door release button but Mr. Strevenska beat him to it on the control panel. The younger man gathered himself up and stood. “Well, I guess we walk then.”
Dr. Cobalt deliberately fumbled with his cane. “Oh, my. My knees aren’t what they used to be.”
“Hurry up doctor. My patience wears thin.” The I.R.C.I. agent stepped out into the snow and began tapping the car with his bare hands.
Dr. Cobalt groaned feeling his weary legs unwilling to cooperate. Reaching for the seat rail to pull himself up he felt too late his hand start to slip as the water condensed on his glove denied him his grip. He fell forward into a kneel slamming his chest off the rail and collapsed to one knee on the floor. Heaving the doctor instantly realized he had dropped the override.
Mr. Strevenska initially didn’t register the clang-clang sound as anything but Dr. Cobalt’s cane hitting the floor. He turned his head to see what happened and tapped his foot waiting for his older companion to get to his feet. It was when he realized the doctor was still holding his cane that things clicked. His eyes followed the other gentleman’s hand reaching for the small device on the floor.
“What is that?” Mr. Strevenska stiffened in alarm and began reaching instinctively for his sidearm. The doctor ignored him and lunged for the override. Mr. Strevenska’s optical sensors detected the spike in blood pressure and heart rate. “Put the device down!” he shouted as his weapon’s safety clicked off.
Still lying on the floor Dr. Cobalt sneered and pressed one button with a vindictive deathgrip. All around him the car sprang to life in slow motion. The older man looked up and realized that the I.R.C.I. agent had drawn the firearm and not the blaster. He cursed his poor luck. That was all the time he had to think before a shot rang out then the car lurched forward and continued on it’s route.
For a moment he couldn’t feel the sting. The cold breeze slipping into the car through the bullet hole is what he noticed first. When he started to sit up pain assailed him. A torrent of searing white-hot fire shot up from his back. He was fortunate. Mr. Strevenska had aimed high in his haste and hit him in the abdomen. The doctor took it as a small comfort. Perhaps, he thought, the door had provided just enough deflection to spare his life?
Faster Then Light (FTL) Travel is a given in my novel and is the sole reason that humanity still has any prayer of survival. I don't know any true specifics about how the stuff works. The humans use a semi-stable wormhole as a gravity well that, through the use of gates on either side, can be ridden along (but not inside of) to shortcut between two points in space. Humans first explored the wormhole with probes. After four decades of collecting data that way and building a research station on a nearby moon building the actual gate began. The gate itself is composed of a dozen machines attached to a much larger gate station. If you didn't know what you were looking at you'd think it was just a big probe or something. The gate station houses a huge computer and a fusion plant to recharge the gate builders.
When the station receives a command to open the gate it deploys the builders that then construct the field the ship will use to enter the wormhole's space warp. The size of the gate is dynamically constructed based on the size and mass of the craft wishing to enter the wormhole. Upon approaching the other end the ship's computer must send a signal to alert the receiving station.
(That makes me wonder what sorts of bad things could happen to a craft that failed to alert the receiving end. Would the ship get sucked into the wormhole's gravity well? Would it disintegrate from the force of trying to form in "normal" space?)
Another form of FTL travel, suitable for relatively short distance trips, is the use of slipspace. First off, slipspace assumes a multiversal structure to the universe. That is, there are multiple expanding universes expanding parallel to one another. With the right technology it is possible to slip into the expansion of another universe and effectively "ride the wave." The term comes from riding between realities.
EDIT: When saying that the multiple universes are parallel I was incorrect. I meant to say that they are intersecting, yet distinctly separate. Yes, it's very weird. I keep forgetting to remind myself that space is not necessarily a flat plane. (Although reading about black holes and the holographic principle seems to suggest, at least from a mathematical perspective, the universe might be flat as it were.) This whole thing comes from the notion of branes although I can't get into any detail with that as I know @$!&-all about physics.
The problem with FTL travel in this setting is that as one exceeds the speed of light one's form is converted directly to information. To one moving at such speed thought, perception, even biological processes cease. The Hylin have state-shifting technology that can slightly slow the beings in a field enough that they regain consciousness. However it is limited to the very beginning of the journey as one begins accelerating and the very end as one deccelerates towards the speed of light. To the traveler it seems as if they had teleported from one point in space to another.
Humans cannot generate sufficient energy for a slipspace jump in their ships and require assistance in the form of waygates that generate a wormhole that exists for the fraction of a second needed to break through conventional space. The Hylin, having mastered the use of micro black holes to store and generate massive amounts of energy, can initiate slipspace jumps without needing external assistance. Both races must still know where they're going before initiating the jump or they could end up somewhere ... unpleasant.
The Hylin. It's a word that sends ripples of terror through any human in the story. The Hylin have been a spacefaring race for at least 5,000 years although they're not terribly more advanced then humanity. Part of that is in the interest of competitive balance. Otherwise the humans would get obliterated and there would be little left to build conflict around. I can handwave this with the unusual structure of Hylin society. Well, that and the innovation plateau.
What worries me the most are falling into one of two stereotypes with my aliens: Scary Dogmatic Aliens or Proud Warrior Race Guy. I can actually see how things are going to turn out for the Hylin on Etol and it's not pleasant. They're no more immune to pulling "go crazy" cards out of the mystical hat then their human counterparts. I'm pretty sure the commanding officer they'll spend most of the invasion with will survive but what state she's in at the end will entirely be a function of how I decide to take Tenshi psychology.
So yeah, scary dogmatic aliens. I'm not setting out to make a deliberate parallel between the Hylin and some scary political ideology here on Earth. Frankly, that's a bit boring. I prefer to fully explore the extremes possible in the fictional society and figure out where their mindset starts breaking down. I thought I wrote out interviews with the top two Hylin last year but either I did and lost those notes or I forgot to because now I can't find any such entries. Oh well, I guess I can at least address some of the basics.
Do they have any religious beliefs? (Yes, but they've mostly fallen apart due the reality of living in space for so long. Religion for this species is more concerned with maintaining tradition and holding on to their history then the veneration of a deity. In truth there is no deity to whom the Hylin pray. There are saintlike figures but espousing a belief in a supreme deity is an invitation to get your ass kicked among them. Hylin collectively despise the idea of predestination for that means all their efforts to build glory are rather pointless. However they are as vulnerable as humans to mass manipulation.)
Are there social castes? (Hell yes and they're pretty rigid.)
Are they social organisms? (Extremely - perhaps a bit moreso then humans. They raise their young communally. However they're also intensely individualistic and building an impeccable reputation gives a Hylin some degree of immortality. The Hylin really are a reflection of the contradictory elements within America that I've witnessed in my lifetime. In short, every Hylin is torn between duty and dedication to their place in society and pressure to make something of themselves. It makes them irrational.)
Are they a warrior society? (The Hylin have a huge military. Actually, that statement is misleading. The clan in contact with humanity is composed of 8 distinct tribes. There are two other clans that are a bit bigger with 9 tribes each but they are so far away from earth as to be completely disinterested in whatever trouble their distant cousins get themselves into. All the tribes have to have an independent military or they risk destruction at the hands of their fellow Hylin. They are a race either eternally on the brink of civil war or hip-deep in one.)
Do the Hylin hate humans? (Some, yes and for good reason. The Akutenshi series takes place 70 years after the Hylin fought a particularly nasty war with earthlings. The intervening decades have been quiet for the Antilles system but the exact opposite over by Earth. Once bitterness sets in hate quickly follows.)
Why don't the Hylin just use X technology and wipe everyone out? (Competitive balance. To be sure - they avoid direct hand-to-hand combat when possible. Yes, the Hylin are approximately 5,000 years older then humanity in terms of time out in space but that doesn't mean they're 5,000 years ahead of them technologically - by whatever metric you'd use to measure such a thing. As a species they are no more invulnerable to disease, war, and disaster then humans. They've suffered ... setbacks ... over the intervening millenia. I'll leave it at that.
Yeah, I know it sounds silly that one little planet could try to fend off hundreds of thousands of aggressive aliens supported by billions more with an infrastructure Earth as a whole couldn't hope to compete against. However, only a small percentage (less then 5%) of that one clan decided to actually go to war. More joined later out of principle. The initial attackers even knew enough about Earth to know they were being stupid (as they say "There are no secrets in the cosmos...") but went ahead and moved anyway out of sheer pride.
I let the humans speculate wildly on why they're being attacked. Unfortunately there will never be an answer that can truly explain why. The Hylin themselves don't really know why they invaded. Ask ten of them that question and you'll get ten different answers. However once the conflict was set into motion it took on a life of it's own.
The character and Tenshi list as updated from last year:
Humans:
XionML49 "Jackal" piloted by Aaron Walsh
XionML26 "Fox" piloted by Tara Reed
XionHC16 "Salon" piloted by Regina Cobalt
XionVC18 "Warden" piloted by Kitane Martone
XionVC21 "Marduk" piloted by Nahuel Red
XionHM39 "Quetzan" piloted by Naomi Bridge
S16G4 : S-16Grendose "Daemos" piloted by Alfen DuCross
S22G4 : S-22Grendose "Dugurose" piloted by Lucias Wright
S11K9 : S-11Kaes "Shuval" piloted by Asanaga Hirotane
S8A63 : S-8Adarain "Malock" piloted by Demodar Langlen
S53A64 : S-53Adarain "Rasran" piloted by Ikaia Ha'oa
S19X2: S-19Xios "Violet" piloted by Ms. Medberry
V17s3 "Voloth-A/Golden Eagle" piloted by Orocho Mitamaru/Beryon Blackvault
V5n9 "Voloth-B/Silver Sparrow" piloted by Maggy Reed
V31n7 "Voloth-C/Blue Finch" piloted by NONE!
V26s5 "Voloth-D/Little D" piloted by Nadine Duvol/Simon Danesti
V22n8 "Voloth-E/Grey Hawk" piloted by Atsuki Rei/Ryan Marcus
V42s5 " Voloth-F/Red Rail " piloted by Ryan Marcus
Gen9X5 "Morvo" piloted by Baudelo Carson
LuneNC43M "Denire" piloted by Ukiwo Hanara
LuneNC14M "Igten" piloted by Ao'a Sono
Hylin:
ZZ49: Xe'Rez piloted by Gosha'Har
ZH16: Nan'Zong piloted by Li'Su'Lang
ZH19: Zna'King piloted by Lun-Xan
M9-18: Leotho piloted by Toretsu
M9-22: Corsid piloted by Drigar Uneda
ZD9551: Gauss Ragnarock piloted by Ni'Zammerune and/or Ni'Ammal
XionVM03 "Pria" piloted by Mephis
http://ladyabaxa.livejournal.com/36755.h
That entry has likewise been cleaned up for readability. I would like to stress that as of right now I've tried to group lines together into what I can remember about conversations but it may not be 100% accurate. I also haven't added any names for ease of telling what lines belong to which character. This is as complete a text dump as I can make it at this time.
- Mood:
tired
The guide itself tries very hard to avoid spoilers. I don't want to ruin the surprise of anyone new to the game just because they're reading an FAQ. Then again if you really wanted to know who lives and who dies before playing you could just take note of who I'm not talking about at the end of the walkthrough. Extra formating to make Ctrl+F searches easier and to locate sections by scrolling have been added.
Street Fighter comes 2nd:
I've been editing little things here and there when I get the time (and motivation) to do so. It will end up being one massive update once I finally finish adding all the School point costs to the Focus list. I'm attaching the update list in progress after a LJ cut at the bottom of this post. One major change I think I'm going to make to the school list is to add a second Native American Wrestling school which will have an emphasis on grapples. It's been bugging me that I have a shamanistic school but not a physical one to better represent canon fighters like T. Hawk.
YouTube news:
Recording for stage 15 of Ogre Battle, City of Malano, is now complete. It will be 9 parts - cut down from the original 18. I'm itching to start recording an RPG and have to keep telling myself two games is more then enough for now. I really don't have the harddrive space for a third one!
Finally: I cleaned up my LJ entry from way back about X-Men Legends 2. It should be easier to read now.
http://ladyabaxa.livejournal.com/13310.h
( Street Fighter info... )
As the title of this post indicates the walkthrough is almost finished. It is technically complete already as I reached the point where I started writing it during my last run through. That is - it will get you from start to finish. However I'm now filling in the gaps. I still have to complete my second run to guarantee accuracy. Unfortunately as I am not mathematically-minded (and I'm not parsing to begin with) I cannot include damage formulas.
I have, however, confirmed:
Experience gains are randomized. Each enemy has a set range of experience it can give. The stronger the enemy, the more experience it is likely to cough up.
The highest (known) level enemy in the game is a level 65 Tasset that guards the main terminal on level 4.
What I initially thought as an elite form of Barmail turns out to be a separate enemy. This enemy has two shields and attacks with twin rocket launchers. For now, though, I'm keeping it in the Barmail enemy entry and just making a note about the differences. If I can get a better look at it I may move it to another entry. I have a hard time keeping some enemies straight (Hauberks and HPSes look alot alike at a cursory glance) so I try to keep them sorted via weakpoints.
I did find a gun launcher dropper. It's an advanced HPS-03 with a shoulder-mounted launcher. That gives me some small hope that more then one large gun launcher exists in the game. (It dropped a medium launcher.)
EDIT: It seems extremely unlikely at this point. A later HPS with the same model used a linear cannon instead. There are only 3 Cuilboil in the entire game. One can drop the tier 4 linear cannon (Super Cannon - it's awesome BTW), the second a Heavy Vulcan, and the third uses two large rocket launchers.
Well, that was my best chance. The Cuilboils have a small chance to drop anything let alone weapons. Good thing for save states or I might have gone a little crazy trying to farm them.
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Now playing: Michael Jackson - Black Or White
via FoxyTunes
- Mood: tired
