Chapter 2 cover

[Some Useless Geek]

You are suggesting that Tempo lacked the authority to grant plenipotentiary status to Alex? This would be diplomatic seppuku, to exceed one's authority in front of other diplomats. Don't buy it, dudester.

[NOMAD]

You are suggesting that Tempo lacked the authority to grant plenipotentiary status to Alex? This would be diplomatic seppuku, to exceed one's authority in front of other diplomats. Don't buy it, dudester.

I don;t get it either, but I think Tempo had the authority, give the Mizol are the "diplomatic/political" core for the Loroi. Yet, I do suspect, upon reading that section of chapter 1, that Tempo intended all alone to give Alex diplomatic status, yet was forced, in haste ( IE still-storm walking on the bridge), in order to prevent Still-Storm from doing anything "bad" to Alex, as our dear loroi commander is absolutely untrusting of Alex

[discord]

geek: actually she does not have that authority to grant plenipotentiary status to alex, only his own government could do that, she however can RECOGNIZE his status as a diplomat, there is a difference.

[Cy83r]

It's more likely that the Terran politicians would be more involved in the issue of Alex continuing to be an ambassador for their species, but I would guess that, going by the thread of most stories along these lines, the Loroi may become too attached to Alex's service to both them and his own species to let him be replaced. My forecast is that Alex winds up something of a lifetime officer-politician by the time the story comes to a close, or if Arioch will be working on this forever (I can only hope), then by the fiftieth chapter (more likely to be twenty or thirtieth chapters, but I'm a conservative guesser).

[Sprawl63]

It's more likely that the Terran politicians would be more involved in the issue of Alex continuing to be an ambassador for their species, but I would guess that, going by the thread of most stories along these lines, the Loroi may become too attached to Alex's service to both them and his own species to let him be replaced. My forecast is that Alex winds up something of a lifetime officer-politician by the time the story comes to a close, or if Arioch will be working on this forever (I can only hope), then by the fiftieth chapter (more likely to be twenty or thirtieth chapters, but I'm a conservative guesser).

I think Arioch has said their would be 7 chapters.

[elorran]

7 chapters, around 80-ish pages per chapter, though this is subject to change.
Alex supposedly graduated with honours and was exceptionally skilled in tactical/strategic assessment.
Whether his "chess" skills are still used at all, is another matter however.

[Cy83r]

Divide my estimates by five then. I'm way too used to long-ass series; I blame Tite Kubo's filler arcs.

[Voitan]

Outsider is a nice setting, I'm sure future series will be using it still, just different protagonists maybe?

[Some Useless Geek]

...actually she does not have that authority to grant plenipotentiary status to alex, only his own government could do that...

You are quite correct. I knew there was something phunky about the whole thing even when I was reading it the first time through: the idea that a grunt spacer first could be the representative for his whole species without diplomatic training; that he could be effective without enough information or wisdom to handle delicate discussions; and that he could assume such a position without the authority from proper channels to speak on behalf of Terra.

But, Alex was just winging it anyway. So it goes.

[Gudo]

...actually she does not have that authority to grant plenipotentiary status to alex, only his own government could do that...

You are quite correct. I knew there was something phunky about the whole thing even when I was reading it the first time through: the idea that a grunt spacer first could be the representative for his whole species without diplomatic training; that he could be effective without enough information or wisdom to handle delicate discussions; and that he could assume such a position without the authority from proper channels to speak on behalf of Terra.

Well, there's no reason why the Loroi couldn't consider him to have said plenipotentiary status. Besides, how are they to know he doesn't have some sort of diplomatic training? I'm sure if he were to make any decrees or treaties, the Loroi would consider it to be effective in the interim or until ratified by a higher authority.

[discord]

geek: actually we do not have the full mission brief on hand, and IF the captain had such status, then by virtue of the chain of command, depending on how the TCA charter is written and such, he just might have it for reals....
which some(about 80% of'em) will go ballistic about a ensign holding the fate of humanity in his hands, no matter how well he handled it they will hate it and close that particular loophole faster than you can eat a powerbar so that it NEVER happens again....until the next iteration of bureaucracy fails to remember that boo-boo and makes it happen again.

[Arioch]

Alex is not a diplomat, but as Alex's memorized recitations indicate, every member of the crew was taught the Trade Language and given training and specific instructions for exactly this purpose. Alex's primary goal now is to try to get the Loroi to send an envoy to rendezvous with the Terran relay vessel; failing that, he has been briefed on what he does and does not have the authority to do.

Plenipotentiary status gives a diplomat authority to negotiate on behalf of a nation, and that is necessary when there is no instantaneous long-distance communication (as it was in our age of sail when it took months to cross oceans). However, it is well understood by the Loroi that any agreement must be ratified by the appropriate government agency or agencies before it can be in force (as was the case in the age of sail).

[fredgiblet]

You are suggesting that Tempo lacked the authority to grant plenipotentiary status to Alex? This would be diplomatic seppuku, to exceed one's authority in front of other diplomats. Don't buy it, dudester.

Am I questioning Tempo's authority to recognize diplomats? No. However we are still on Stillstorm's ship, and she still almost certainly has the ability to make life unpleasant for Alex without breaking the rules.

[manticore7]

Doesn't Beryl's character sheet have her with a trait that has her extra curious of xenos?

Is that official?

She's a xenophile (which has a specific meaning in GURPS that is NOT "wants to fuck every xeno she comes across"). The officialness of the char sheets has never been denied by Arioch (that I've seen), but of course there's always the possibility that they're outdated.

wow, Bad Tempered? never would have guessed. Beryl's seems to be on a more even keel then som of the other Laroi that I think she missed her calling as a Mizol. What kind of things set her off?

[discord]

you do not want to know....because if you do it means you are there to see it happen, and it is unlikely you survive the experience....which is lucky for those that do.

[Voitan]

Bad temper?

I don't have a GURPs book with me, but I'd replace it with something else like overly inquisitive, opinionated, or maybe even extroverted.

[Solemn]

wow, Bad Tempered? never would have guessed. Beryl's seems to be on a more even keel then som of the other Laroi that I think she missed her calling as a Mizol. What kind of things set her off?

Judging by the rest of that sheet?

-1 Sensitive About Youth indicates that she might get set off if her qualifications are questioned or if she feels disrespected on account of having attained her rank without (decades?) going through the grind during peacetime, when high-ranking casualties would be rare enough that I think she'd be unlikely to have become a full Tozet at the age of 14. Remember the face she made when she was asking Alex about human mating customs?

She seems... upset. And I think she became upset, not because she thought that she led to a bad situation, but because she might have thought she was wrong. Which is a terrible feeling when you've already got some insecurity issues on a given subject.

-1 Mild Agoraphobia. In a space-born society of warriors. If Alex brings up the subject of her fear of catastrophic decompression (which he noticed during the battle), even in the form of trying to comfort her, she might take it badly. Outward signs of weakness do not befit a warrior, generally. Hostility is a fairly common response to embarrassment, shame, and/or fear.

Furthermore, she has (edited), (edited), and (edited). These are the interesting ones, as they would obviously lead to all sorts of awkward situations involving [redacted]hich the Loroi coul[redacted]. These three traits complement one another, and the other two as well, by in[redacted]

================
Input Override Function
================
origin: Support Staff (Observer Command Subdivision)
destin: Independent Xenobiologicals
ref: Impertinence
stamps: Advice Supervision

Spurious rumors do not befit the establishment of mutually beneficial relations.

All individuals are to refrain from activities that could incite discord[connotation: disrespect] towards Loroi ranks, sow disrespect towards ranking officers amongst Loroi, or interfere with standard crew function under current conditions.

Failure to comply could jeopardize future relations or compromise the safety of said independent xenobiologicals.

Formerly noncompliant units, please report to Main Laboratory Facilities and account for personal indiscretion.

[Arioch]

The Fireblade sheet is reasonably accurate to the current state of the comic, but I wouldn't say the one for Beryl holds up nearly as well. In GURPS you hunt through the list of disadvantages trying to get extra points for better advantages, but also looking for the germ of an idea that can lead to more interesting character development. For Fireblade, the disadvantages for lack of fine control of her PK led to a very interesting story of how she got to be that way, but the attempt to describe the more volatile side of Beryl's personality with the game-defined constructs of "Bad Temper" and "Impulsiveness" didn't work quite as well.

Also, some details have changed subtly in the years since the sheets were made. For example, there was an initial notion that Beryl's youth was an issue with her more senior fellow officers, but since a significant number of the crew are even younger than she is, that particular idea doesn't really hold up... or, at least, it's not an issue that's unique to Beryl.

[Grayhome]

Far be it from me to suggest anything that could detract you from the story, but will we be seeing more GURPS sheets for the characters? I'm getting into GURPS and I rather like the freedom of choice you get when creating a character.

[Arioch]

I did sheets for all four of the main characters (Alex, Fireblade, Beryl & Tempo), so I may eventually clean them up and post them. I didn't post Tempo's beause it has a lot of spoilers in it, and Alex's isn't terribly exciting since he doesn't have much in the way of psionic or physical abilities (defining which was the primary purpose for the exercise).

I hadn't really though much about doing more, as specific definition of the physical abilities of most of the characters isn't that important to the story, though I suppose it might be interesting at some point to define each of the species' profiles in more detail.