If it´s not stepping on any toes, I can.
Posts by Codename
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Wow. How´s that for good timing! <font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>I could have written: "Rob escapes using all the skills at his disposal," but that´s just not me <img src=smilies/icon_smile_wink.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> Thank goodness! <img src=smilies/icon_smile_big.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
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The test didn´t go wrong. It went very right. The whole idea was to wipe out everyone in the system. As for the battleship thing, as far as I know, the assault was based on two types of technology. The one is what Dr. Tomsons is analyzing; a fusion of Sirian and Nomad technologies. The other is some sort of summoning device, like the kind Mason used at the end of Athena´s fic/the beginning of our game. The battleships that may or may not have been present would have been wholly Nomad. Members of The Covenant may or may not be possessed by Nomads. The thing about The Covenant is that, to a large degree, people really aren´t actually members. You have your three big bosses in the organization: The Abbot, Mason, and Juan. Each of these people has access to certain factions within Sirius (The Order for Abbot, Bounty Hunters mostly for Mason and Outcasts for Juan) and usually will just send members of those groups todo their dirty work without ever really initiating them into The Covenant proper. Leastways, that´s how I see it. Hope that clears things up. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
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Question for Chips. Which thread have you or other mods been watching? This one? The game thread itself? Both? Neither? I had a theory about all this, and now I´m wondering if I´m right or wrong.
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Tanya and Rob cried out in ecstasy one last time before finally collapsing onto the mattress, their bodies utterly spent. In between his own ragged gasps for breath, Rob could feel Tanya´s chest rise and fall heavily against his own. Rob caressed Tanya´s back, slowly running a hand down her spine and Tanya sighed happily. She lowered her own head to Rob´s and strands of blond hair tickled Rob´s cheeks as they shared a tender kiss. Words failed Rob. All he could think to do was to wrap his arms around Tanya and hold her. So he did. Rob searched for a way to express himself properly but the sensation of her breathing, and the rhythmic beat of her heart, lulled Rob to sleep in moments. Rob woke to the familiar sensation of Tanya running her one hand softly through is hair, the other hand slid slowly, almost hypnotically, along the ridges of Rob´s stomach. While he had been dozing Tanya had moved from above him and now lay on her side. Rob felt the warmth of her body nestled against his own and the light weight of her head resting on his chest. Opening his eyes, Rob looked at Tanya as she lay there. She seemed to him to be glowing. Rob tightened the sleepy grip he had around her waist. Tanya didn´t react but to instinctively rub her leg against Rob´s. Her mind seemed... elsewhere. Rob decided against interrupting whatever thoughts Tanya was having and simply basked in her glow. It did not take long before she fully occupied his mind. Rob thought of her strength, speed, and grace. Her loyalty and indomitable spirit. Her playfulness. Her beauty. In that moment it dawned on Rob just how truly lucky he was. Rob reached with his free hand and held Tanya´s chin between his thumb and forefinger. He shifted his body slightly, and turned Tanya´s head towards his own so their eyes met. "I love you." Rob whispered. It wasn´t the first time he had said those words. It wasn´t even the first time he had meant them. But somehow Rob knew that with Tanya it was different. There were probably hundreds of women throughout Sirius who Rob would gladly have spent his life with. But there was only one Tanya. And she was his one. Tanya didn´t respond immediately and for one terrible moment Rob feared he had somehow misstepped. He relaxed when she merely smiled and rested her head on his chest once more. After a long while Tanya turned to Rob and asked, "What´s the plan now?" Rob closed his eyes for a few seconds and gathered thoughts which had drifted far from his consciousness. He relayed all the relevant information from Nikolai´s debriefing to Tanya. Each mention of Juan briefly created some feelings of discomfort, but they were soon forgotten as the story continued. Tanya was silent for some time after Rob finished as she considered the new information. She sighed. "We should get going, Rob. Time to save the universe." Rob felt a chill as Tanya rolled away from him and sat up on the bed. The freelancer looked out the viewport at the myriad stars and sighed. <i>Yeah. Time to save the universe. </i> His gaze then drifted to Tanya´s naked back and Rob was gripped by a sudden, burning desire. Just as the young woman was about to stand, Rob flicked his arm out and grabbed Tanya´s wrist. Tanya turned to look at Rob. "The universe can wait." He said. And it did. - - - - The trip to LA was short and sweet. Rob had called Travis and Dr. Tomsons - who had been waiting for contact on Planet Curacao - and told them to wait in orbit above the oceanic Liberty planet. Travis was disappointed and Rob knew why. The roguish ex-bounty hunter surely had been enjoying the company and attention of many a bored rich woman during his stay on the resort planet. After that, Rob and Tanya discussed what they would do once they arrived on LA. Eventually they decided that Dr. Tomsons would be given the weapons from Omega-5 to analyze, while a team would descend to uncover and retrieve the artifact. Tanya and Rob found Travis and Dr. Tomsons waiting at the docking ring. "Been waiting long?" Rob asked. "No. We only just arrived, actually." Dr. Tomsons replied. "Good." Tanya said. "Go on and dock. Rob and I will meet you on the surface." "Look forward to it, babe." Travis drawled as he passed into the planet´s atmosphere. "See you soon." Dr. Tomsons said. Then it was Tanya´s turn. She engaged the autodock and the Sabre was guided slowly into Planet Los Angeles´ atmosphere. Rob had one final call to make. He dialed up Hahukum Konn´s neural net. "Hello?" Came the trader´s distinctively accented voice. "Hey, Konn. It´s Rob. Meet us in the LA bar." Rob said as Tanya aimed the fighter at a nearby landing platform. <b>Summary: Post-passion cuddles, and Rob and Tanya finally reach LA. </b>
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FA - Thanks for the compliments. They mean a lot. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
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<i>Who the hell is this Juan guy anyway? </i> Rob wondered, as he had been for quite some time, when he dropped down from the Sabre and onto the cold metal deck of Freeport 2. He left Tanya in the cockpit doing the final post-landing checks. <i>Could Tanya be thinking about the same person? </i> That question had a potentially devastating answer. When he heard Tanya hop out onto the deck, Rob looked up from retrieving his things from the hold. He raised his shades and scrutinized the young woman. <i>Who are you really? What aren´t you telling me? </i> There was much about Tanya that was still mystery to Rob, and this latest incident served to drive that point home. “Is there something you want to say?” Tanya asked, catching Rob´s gaze with her green eyes and holding it fast. “I´m going to get a room and clean up. I suggest you do the same.” Rob said shortly. He shouldered a small pack and strode out of the hangar. - - - - After quickly arranging for some short-term accommodation with the quartermaster, a rather decrepit-looking old man, Rob headed to his assigned room for a much needed wash and rest. Unfortunately for Rob, those luxuries were not to be immediately attainable. As he walked down the corridor, Rob began to get the feeling that he was being followed. Rob pulled his shades off and pretended to wipe some dust off with his poor excuse for a shirt. By angling the lenses properly Rob was able to catch a glimpse of two grey-and-brown suited Xenos walking behind him. They didn´t seem interested in Rob though; it looked like they were just looking for a room. Rob sighed softly, relieved. The relief quickly dissolved as Rob and the two Xenos found themselves stopped at the same door. “Uh, fellas?” Rob turned to the two men, “This is my room.” “No it isn´t.” One of the Xenos said. “Yeah, see?” The other Xeno pulled a key out of his pocket. On it was the number that matched the one on the door. Rob pulled out his own key, looked at it, and held it up to the Xenos. It bore the same number. “Looks like the geriatric wonder back there messed something up.” “Looks like it,” said the one Xeno. “Too bad for you,” said the other. “Oh, come on guys.” Rob said, feeling rather dejected. “Can´t you tell I´ve had a rough time? Cut me a break already.” “No, I don´t think so.” Rob scowled. “I was here first.” The Xenos looked at each other briefly, then at Rob. “There are two of us,” one said. “And we´re bigger than you,” added the second. Rob´s scowl deepened. “You boys don´t want to be fighting me.” “We don´t?” “We want our room though. “And you are in our way.” “You don´t look so hot either.” “Just cut your losses now, buddy. “We won´t tell anybody.” “Oh, for f*cks sake! Do you really think I´m going to let myself be pushed around by a bunch of two-bit pirates like you? No way. No f*cking way. Not after all I´ve been through.” Rob dropped his pack to the floor and raised his fists. His injured body protested the sudden motion, and Rob winced. The Xenos laughed. “Last mistake you´ll ever make. I hope you didn´t come alone, ´cause somebody´ll have to clean up once we´ve smeared you all over the deck.” Rob smiled grimly. “Shut up and bring it.” The Xenos smiled and moved in, one aiming high, while the other launched himself at Rob´s midsection. Rob leapt forward, directly into the path of the Xeno trying to tackle him. He reached over the man´s back and grabbed the Xeno by the waist of his pants. Using the pirate´s own momentum, Rob swung the man into the air and, rolling backwards, sent him flying into the wall. He hit with a crunch and fell to the floor. The other Xeno, having expected Rob to dodge his counterpart, ended up hitting nothing but air with his first punch. Rob rolled sideways and flung his arms around the bewildered pirate´s legs. The man swayed and tried to keep his balance. Rob tightened his grip on the man´s legs and pulled them into his chest and surged forward again. With a yelp the Xeno toppled to the floor. Rob was on him in a second, raining punishing blows onto his face and chest. The Xeno tried in vain to fight back and defend himself, but it was no use. “Stop, please!” The pirate cried out, covering his face as best he could. Rob ceased his assault and stood. The whimpering man curled into fetal position. “I told you that you didn´t want to fight me. Go on, get outta here.” Rob´s victims groaned and struggled to get to their feet. “Oh. One thing before you go,” Rob said as he scooped up his pack. “I´ll take that other key you have.” The Xeno Rob had thrown into the wall grimaced as he reached into his pocket. Quick as a flash, Rob drew his two pistols and pointed them at his foes. With a flick of his thumb, he set the energy levels to “stun” and pumped a few rounds into the pirates. “Nice try boys.” Rob leaned down and saw that, sure enough, the Xeno had been holding a crude slugthrower. He fished around in the unconscious man´s other pockets until his fingers closed around the key. “That´s better.” Rob stood once more, glanced up and down the corridor and opened the door to his room. He stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and locked it. The room was by no means luxurious. The walls were bare metal, and other than the bed, the room was empty. Nevertheless, Rob was happy. The room appeared to be clean, and the bed wasn´t obviously damaged. The events of the past few days had ruined a number of the devices on Rob´s toolbelt, including his bug jammer. Rob rummaged through his pack momentarily and withdrew a replacement. He jacked it in to the proper slot and activated it. Before anything else, there was a lot of information to review. Rob figured he might as well get comfortable. He quickly slipped out of his dirty clothes and shoved them into the station´s garbage chute. Propping himself up against some pillows, and stretching out on the bed - it was firm, not hard, and Rob was pleased that no springs dug into his back - Rob set about going over the new information he had been given. First came the information from the Ta´Gue´Led about the artifact. Rob and Tanya had looked it over in detail on their trip from the Omicrons to Bering, but Rob wanted to skim it one more time just to ensure that he hadn´t missed anything important. There wasn´t much to look through. The mysterious faction had given the location of the artifact. Once again, it was housed in a massive pyramid. Unlike on Primus, however, this pyramid was located deep at the bottom of a massive trench that ran for hundreds of kilometers under the surface of the ocean that covered nearly all of Planet Los Angeles. There was little in the way of information about the obstacles that the retrieval team would end up facing. The Ta´s speculated that there would be another guardian to be faced by anyone attempting to reach the artifact, but there was no indication as to what form it might take. Finally, Rob had been provided with a contact number for once the artifact was secured. The Ta´s would relay more instructions to him at that point. Rob sighed. It really wasn´t much to work with. Konn´s debriefing of Nikolai, on the other hand, was extremely thorough. Rob noted the rather large audio file and was quite surprised to see it had a total runtime of just under two hours. <i>Looks like Konn was plenty meticulous. Wonder if he was ever trained in counterintel techniques? </i> Rob listened intently to the conversation between his trader friend and the man they had rescued from the secret Outcast installation. To say that Nikolai had been given a rough time was an understatement. Listening to the Rheinlander tell the tale of multiple beatings made Rob see his last few days in an entirely different light. Unfortunately Nikolai´s story, while rich in detail, didn´t offer Rob many insights into Mason, The Covenant, or Juan. Mason was mentioned at the beginning, and Rob heard Nikolai´s version of Damien´s tale. The Liberty Governor soon faded into the background as the Outcasts took custody of Nikolai. The still mysterious Juan popped up from time to time but Rob couldn´t tell exactly what his place in the tale was. The constant reminders of how Tanya had drifted away at the mention of the name made it difficult for Rob to concentrate. Eventually, unable to clear his mind, Rob shut the recording off. <i>What the </i> hell <i>was up with Tanya anyway? Who is Juan? How does Tanya know him? What did he mean to her? </i> The questions came fast and unrelenting. Rob had no answers, only wild guesses. None were satisfying. Rob rose from the bed and began to pace back and forth, brooding over what had happened in the Sabre. He tried to think of other things, to push the questions aside through rigorous physical exercise, but nothing worked. And the more he thought about it, the worse he felt. Eventually Rob couldn´t take not knowing anymore. Frustrated, he threw his hands in the hair and shouted “What the HELL!?” <i>Okay, that´s it. I´m going to ask Tanya. </i> Rob thought. <i>I mean, she can´t keep blanking out like that. What if it hadn´t just been Xeno punks on us? What if there had been four Outcast Sabres? It´s dangerous. Too dangerous. </i> Rob sighed. Deep down he knew that wasn´t the only reason he felt the need to ask. Pushing those thoughts aside, Rob stepped into the attached bathroom. If he was going to confront Tanya, he thought it best to do so looking presentable. Rob turned the shower on and waited for the stream of water to warm up. Steam soon began to rise and Rob stepped under the hot spray. His muscles, tense from so much action, began to loosen. He scrubbed down vigorously, relishing the feeling of finally being clean. A few minutes later, after Rob had begun to towel himself off, there came a knock at the door. Rob wrapped the towel around his waist and went to the door. He peered through the peephole and saw that it was Tanya standing in the hall. Despite his state of relative undress, Rob disengaged the door´s locks and opened it partway. “Yeah?” Rob asked, sticking his head into the hall. It looked like Tanya had taken his advice. She was clean, and had replaced her dirty jumpsuit with a plain white tank top and dark grey pants. Tanya took that as an invitation to come in. Pushing the door wide open, she stepped into Rob´s room and turned to face the freelancer. “We need to talk.” <b>Summary: Rob kicks the crap out of a couple Xenos, reviews some info, and gets all worked up over Tanya´s episode in the Sabre. </b>
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OOC: No problem. It´s much better now, if I may say so. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Now, any chance I could get you to answer the question or two I asked? ...Nevermind. Got the e-mail. Edited by - Codename on 9/29/2005 6:51:19 AM
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No, man. The success of the Cali mission is attributable to many factors. The element of surprise, assistance from Konn and Travis, gadgetry, and the ability to plunge the station into darkness all were very important. Also, the idea that Cali had anywhere near 5000 people stationed aboard it is just not right. If you look at the populations of similarly sized hollow-asteroid stations - like <A href=´http://arbiter.de/sirius/edge_worlds/omega-41/bases/freeport_5.html´ Target=_Blank>Freeport 5</a> and <A href=´http://arbiter.de/sirius/edge_worlds/tau-37/bases/falkland_base.html´ Target=_Blank>Falkland Base</a> - you´ll see that they are in the low hundreds. You only get populations in the mid-thousands on stations like <A href=´http://arbiter.de/sirius/liberty/new_york/bases/newark_station.html´ Target=_Blank>Newark</a> and <A href=´http://arbiter.de/sirius/kusari/shikoku/bases/deshima_station.html´ Target=_Blank>Deshima.</a> Granted, the population of Cali is "Unknown", but it is more comparable in (physical) size and type to the first two stations I named. As such, I think that it´s much more likely to have a similar population size.
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And the gadgets Rob used would have been pretty much useless on Primus.
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<font size=1 face="trebuchet ms"><BLOCKQUOTE><hr size=1 noshade>Maybe Rob didn´t destroy it. <hr size=1 noshade></BLOCKQUOTE></font><font face=´trebuchet ms, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica´ size=2> He destroyed it. But don´t worry. You´re more than welcome to have Stefan live his life according to the principles contained therein. Wilde can correct me if I´m wrong, but I don´t think there was anything patently <i>new </i> in the book. The ideas are all from what would be (very) ancient history to the Sirians. So it´s quite possible that Stefan could have encountered them at some point. As a point of curiosity, what would you have Stefan do with the book if he had it?
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<img src=smilies/icon_smile_big.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> Am I correct in thinking that Athena´s going to write something now? Hope so. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
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<img src=´http://img.photobucket.com/alb…Miscellaneous/aw_jeez.jpg ´> <img src=smilies/icon_smile_tongue.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
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I´ll make some time to look it over for you. E-mail address is in the profile.
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I suppose that could be a problem. FA - If you want, you could have Nick ask something along the lines of, "Where do we go now?" Wilde will take over from there.
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Hi bouvier Welcome to our little family. We´re an odd bunch, but you´ll soon get used to us. I´d like to make a suggestion though. Consider an alternative to the gunboat. You don´t have to drop it, but be ready to use something different. The "problem" with capital ships is that they are noticeable. Nobody will really think twice about some fighters here and there, but if a Liberty Gunboat pops up where it shouldn´t (i.e. a different House system, or even one of the Independent systems) then it may cause some "incidents". The way we´ve done things for Nick Warren (who has a similar set-up to Mac), is that he has a group of fighters under his command. You might want to do the same for Mac when he has to leave Liberty. But, by all means, use the gunboat when it´s practical. And now that most everyone is either in, or travelling to, Liberty the Gunboat won´t be out of place. And, as a matter of fact, it would be good to make it quite powerful. That way your character can act as the proverbial cavalry, should things start to go poorly. As far as getting you involved in the main storyline - assuming you´re interested - you should probably try to work something out with ww2jacob. Your characters are both Libertonian by allegiance, and they´re both spooks, so it would be natural that they´d know (of) each other. Once again, welcome. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle>
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BMM Points: Systems - 9 (180 Points) Minor Victories - 7 (35 Points) Major Victories - 4 (40 Points) Fighters - 580 (580 Points) Capital Ships - 29 (87 Points) Small Stations - 26 (130 Points) Large Stations - 10 (100 Points) Shipyards - 5 (50 Points) Planets - 6 (90 Points) Total - 1292 Points Note: My math is probably wrong. Feel free to correct it.
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I just realized that I forgot to wish everybody a happy anniversary. It´s been six months since the game started! Hard to believe. So. Happy Anniversary! <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> And lets keep it going!
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Battle for New York (BMM vs. Liberty) - 8 Battleships, 3 Gunboats, 30 HF, 60 LF vs. 20 LF, 10 HF, 3 SHF, 2 Cruisers, 1 Gunboat, 3 Battleships Battle for California (BMM vs. Liberty) - 3 Battleships, 3 Gunboats, 90 LF vs. 40 LF, 10 HF, 5 Gunboats, 1 Battleship Those are mine.
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Stormtrooper - No, you should e-mail (one of) us. Show that you´re interested in being a part of the game, rather than apart from the game. FA - Nice update. <img src=smilies/icon_smile.gif width=15 height=15 border=0 align=middle> One small thing though. At the end Nick says, "We’ll probably run into more of them before we get back to Sprague." Wouldn´t it make more sense to stop at the nearest Bretonian planet? And now I´m off to uni. Bye! Edit: I hit submit this morning and it posts now!? WTF!? Edited by - Codename on 9/8/2005 2:26:13 PM