Writing Prompts

[inxsi]

That was... surprisingly short.
I expected it to last until our lacking Soroin asked to forfeit the duel.

This is what I was struggling with regarding this part: How long to draw out something that was a foregone conclusion. There is only so many ways to beat somebody who is already down before becoming the somewhat boring and detestable cliche of the 'big and capable fighter' beats down an 'inept idiot' who had it coming until they learn the moral of their lesson; after a while it becomes a chore for everyone involved: The one doing the beat down, the spectators, the victim and in a 4th wall breaking twist the writer themselves.

I could write in detail the way Fireblade mentally planned all her strikes and the intent behind them, how she simultaneously mentally taunted Shortleaf at every strike; how she mentally cornered Shortleaf into doggedly clinging into not forfeiting in order to prove that she still had some warrior pride in herself. With Fireblade becoming disgusted at this development because all could have been avoided if Shortleaf had exhibited the same pride by doing her duties as were expected of her instead of trying to draw out some personal pleasure and finally seeking to flee her position as soon as possible instead of ensuring that all ships were fully combat capable.

I could write how Fireblade berated Shortleaf for the Soroin not being a proper warrior while her hair and nose were still intact after she finished cutting Shortleaf's hair off; with Shortleaf accepting her loss as a proper warrior should have, showing that despite her many faults the Soroin was still a full fledged Loroi warrior who had the potential to redeem herself. I could also write how Alex fully received everything that Fireblade experienced in a similar way that Beryl and Fireblade 'receive' everything when Alex is having sex.

I could try to write all of the above but I don't know how I could manage all this without making a mess of it. Best to write everything down piecemeal through a couple of character development installments that would have people looking back into this part instead of trying to cram everything together into an onesided 'duel' that lasted about five minutes or so.

Just to give my feedback on it - I liked the pacing of it. Maybe the only change would be the mention of solons to more clearly indicate a few minutes of Shortleaf being beaten while on the ground. But I'm not sure on that change even - I thought it perfectly set up that Shortleaf had no chance and not dwelling on the details of the fight was a good call. Also, with Tempo as the point of view character, I think I interpreted it as she saw how things would go so was distracted with other things during it. I think it is like having a bloody cage match going on behind two characters talking in a movie - when the camera pans back to the fight showing the loser on the ground in a bloody heap, the reader imagining the beatdown works better than trying to figure out how to describe it all and how to make it not seem overly graphic. Also, I just imagine Fireblade being indignant with Alex. "It wasn't barbaric - I stopped once I drew blood! We're not savages after all."

[Krulle]

Finally got around to reading the latest chapters.
Thank you, Elestan!

Very well written, and again very enjoyable reading.

(The last one a tad less, but that's my personal preference.)

One minor comment though, after the fight, Fireblade surely does not leave a cut heir of Shortleaf on the sand.
Cut hair is what you meant, surely.
Funny how a single typo can make the story sound much, much worse.

[GrandAdmiralFox]

I have been a fan of the webcomic for years, loving the story and the universe. Arioch has weaved an interesting story that uses the various tropes as intended -like tools- and not as shortcuts. While we've been waiting for Outsider to continue despite the schedule slipping, I see that this universe has a decent-sized fanbase that has created some fanfiction. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring.

In this case, it is a setting of my creation. This setting is a future-history setting, a possible future if you will. It is a setting where the present-day is set in the mid 25th century (aka the 2440s) if you still use the Anno Domini calendar, where conflict is just a fact of life. Much has changed in the intervening centuries before that present-day. The situation stems from the prospect of -in the grand scheme of things- Hobbes is closer to the human condition. The story takes place centuries after the present after SolGov (the UN successor) conquered the rest of humanity and started traveling across the stars.

It is due to this truth that humanity has been at war with itself for centuries. Across the solar system, mind you. When the average military size in Sol as of 2440 (or 0340 in the New World Era calendar) employed some 35% of a faction's population, the ability to wage war gets impressive. So, in this case, both sides will start seeing humanity as an existential threat, especially if they discover how effective humanity's industry is and their technology.

For example, by 0340 NWE (New World Era), the average human is a byproduct of numerous genetic alteration programs leading to a 160kg (average) person, is described as 'the child of Halo's SPARTAN IIs and Battletech's Elementals' by others. The extensively augmented humans, oddly enough, pales in comparison to the anthropomorphic uplifts that humanity has created. Depending on the template, these beings can reach up to an average of 350kg. These uplifts also have similar augmentations to humans, making them incredibly adaptable. While the average body can only last 120 years before having problems, humanity perfected the ability to switch bodies. This ability makes them, for all intents and purposes, immortal. Some can switch bodies like one would switch clothes. While they're (comparatively) rare, these people get hired by intelligence services of various stripes. The most in/famous of these are the UN successor's Special Actions Division. SAD Agents are generally called 'Genocide Wo/men' by their detractors and enemies, which is considered crass by those who work with and are in the same department as the agents. The reason for this 'crass' nickname stems from SAD's immense mandate and the agents' ability to sterilize everything in an area, killing everyone and everything in it. You've got to understand that this ability has tight regulations with AGI entwined with their consciousnesses having the final say in the field with an RTB requirement after its use. Given the horrific things that agents have to keep an eye on, and the sad reality is that this level of freedom is necessary, as I'm going to reveal.

This extensive gene-manipulation ability also leads to something that would make both sides start needing new undergarments: the ability to cook up horrific bioweapons. To give you an idea of how destructive the various powers can make their bioweapons, I have to talk about Rome. The Roman Metropolitan Area became a 'dead zone' or an area where, if you entered without extensive equipment, you die. The Roman Metropolitan Area became sealed within a nanotech-built Teflon-composite biosphere. The reason why? Because an 'Eco-Purist' unleashing similar to a bioweapon -called 'Little Boy' after the nuclear bomb- described in a web forum and this bioweapon is a proposal as a last-resort weapon in that context. The only things that can kill the 'biosphere killer' being either nano-disassembler nanites set on 'disassemble anything carbon-based' mode or bathing in Chlorine Trifluoride. That's right, either something that disassembles anything organic molecule by molecule or you bathe in the substance that is known as the chemical of unquenchable fire can kill this bioweapon. Nothing else works, and that includes radiation treatment.

Another 'fun' weapon in humanity's arsenal is memetic weapons. Such weapons are akin to biological weapons that use information transfer as their vector. Several generations of these weapons exist in the setting, with 'Gen5s' -the last generation of such weapons- completely invalidating the idea of free will (with two previous generations showing this property). By the time this fic starts, all but one generation of memetic weapon (Gen5) are no longer a threat to humanity and its "children" (i.e., uplifts and AGIs). If the story took place in 0340NWE, on the other hand, it would be the first two generations being no longer a threat and the third partially eliminated. Thankfully, memetic weapon research has been illegal by the Sol Accord outside of creating countermeasures. While these accords haven't stopped idiots with more ideology than sense from using them, the human race hasn't self-destructed due to the use of such weapons.

Frightening, is it?

Now, in terms of more conventional weaponry, the setting runs the gambit of the realistic and less realistic. You will see magneto-motive (i.e., railguns, coilguns, and helical coilguns) cannons, various lasers (ranging from visual to x-ray), and particle beams alongside energy pulse weapons, 'quark' guns (basically a poor man's molecular disruptor and 'space shotgun'), missiles with various warheads, and weapons designed to disrupt energy shields. The lightest anti-ship energy weapon in the setting as of 0340 is a 4TW (1GJ per pulse, 16 pulses) UV Pulse Laser with an RoF of 4 that can reach out at 40Mm and has an efficiency of 60%. If you haven't seen the scientific papers on how nasty hard UV lasers are on materials, then let me say that the results are shocking. While the setting does have armor that can withstand such strikes, it doesn't last forever, and it is just incredibly thick.

Another difference between humanity and the portion of the galaxy where the Loroi and Umiak reside is their shields. These shields around a whole different paradigm than what the Loroi and Umiak use, as they (apparently) utilize a dispersion-focused setup. This setup is similar to in-setting Energy Dispersion Web or 'ED-WEB' armor enhancements, which in turn is akin to Babylon 5's E-WEB. Dispersion setups are so-called due to how they mitigate damage, i.e., disperse the energy impact over a far larger area. Humanity's shield system isn't dispersion-focused as it uses a neutralization setup instead. At the basic level, shields act akin to ablative armor. You may have seen this sort of shield in various visual science fiction over the years, and you may get the idea that it's 'massless' ablative armor. The reality is that while the field that a shield generator generates is -effectively- massless, the infrastructure isn't. When I talk about infrastructure, I mean the generator itself, the various capacitors, the emitters, the control systems, and most importantly, the power supply to allow them to function. When operational, the shield is capable of taking a lot of punishment under normal circumstances. You can throw kinetic and energy weapons and only slowly widdle the capacitors down, but this changes when specialty 'shield disruptors' and 'shield piercers' come into play. These weapons -usually termed 'energy shells' or 'energy torpedoes' due to being giant packets of semi-guided energy- are specifically designed to disrupt the field that shield generators create. If one facing goes down, then the entire shield dissipates and thus leaving a ship vulnerable. Shield piercers are different in they are expensive specialty devices designed to penetrate shields and are exclusive to missiles, but this isn't 100% effective due to the difficulties involved.

Humanity's ships are different in that, for their designation, they're far heavier. An example will be the Stiletto VIII class corvette. The Stiletto VIII class corvette is a 288-meter long vessel that weighs in at 450 thousand metric tons (or 450kTons for short) and maneuvering capabilities of 27.2 gravities. A Loroi spaceship of a comparable mission is the Rapier class of escort cruisers, which masses 175kTons and maneuvering capabilities of 30 gravities. What the Stiletto VIII class has are impressive offensive and defensive capabilities alongside its station-keeping. Stiletto VIIIs have lots of missiles for a vessel of their size -216 are of the offensive type- while retaining a blistering array of particle and laser cannons.

What the Rapier class has are its higher maneuverability and superior weapons range. A fun quirk of human spaceship design is their design emphasizes long-term station-keeping. While a Rapier class is likely to return to a logistics hub in a few months, the Stiletto VIII class and its 300+ lives can stay on-station for four years. Something more impressive when you account that time on station is for beings with a 12k calorie diet (or if you want to calculate it out, roughly six times the average human). This immense provision capacity is two-fold: one, human ships took years to cross the solar system with lackluster delta-v with the added requirement to fight with said lackluster delta-v, and two, the solar system used to be a scene of constant warfare, and thus constant unhindered resupply was problematic.

The snippet that you'll see has its beginning with the SFSV Ulysses Haldymire -a massive exploration vessel- entering the same system that the canonical Bellarmine wound up dying in.
(_________________________________________)
SFSV Ulysses Haldymire -Grand Explorer class Deep Range Explorer- CIC, Naam [Orgus Designation]/PIII-5114-222 [SolForce Designation] - about 150 parsecs from the edge of Earth Space; April 15th, 0920 NWE (3020 AD)

"We've exited Hyperlight, Captain," the navigator stated as the female orca-morph double-checked her data, "We've deviated 0.00005402% from entry. Our escorts will be exiting in point-eight-two milliseconds." Soon enough, the central holo-tank showed the two Stiletto VIII class corvettes exiting FTL some 62 kilometers off either side of the massive ship.

That was when the sensors went off.

"Sensors to CIC; we've got energy signatures on the passives consistent from the data that the Orgus gave us. With what the passives are giving us, we've likely stumbled upon a border skirmish," the CSO stated, "The proplyd is reducing our passive sensor capabilities, sir."

"Can you give us any data on the battle without going active?" I ordered, hoping to keep my flotilla alive. While we've got a panic button that would have the 9th Primary Fleet to come in and save our asses, it'll take time to do so. "I want shields up. I don't want to be caught with our pants down if someone is in the proplyd." The shields quickly switched from standby to active, sheathing the three vessels with a capable defensive energy field. "Begin maneuvers to get away from the proplyd; we don't know if anyone's hiding in there until we start going active."

"Sensors to CIC; what I can give you is limited thanks to the proplyd. From what we can decern, we're looking at at least a dozen Loroi and two dozen Umiak capital ships," the CSO answered, "That is without going active. If we go active now, everyone and their brother are going to know that someone is here. We'll be drowning in Loroi and Umiak anti-ship ordinance in that scenario. So far, their energy readings indicate they're primarily using mid-single-digit gigajoule particle cannons and nuclear warheads."

"That's promising," I commented, "Our shields and E-WEB can take that easily; hell, our shields and E-WEB from the 4th century can take those." That was when one of the vessels in the battle exploded. "Sensors, what sort of detonation was that?"

"Sensors to CIC; passives are indicating that it was a combination of a forcefield-enhanced fusion reactor with an output of the tens of terawatts going off and the detonation of a fusion warhead magazine. Their armor, to be frank, appears to be complete and utter shit. I'm getting energy shield indications, but from the reactions I'm seeing, they're designed for dispersion first, not negation."

"Interesting, given they should have armor that is capable enough to take a few hits," I quipped, "that is similar to what we use for E-WEB. Still, to use it as a shield is going to eat your power supply like a pig."

"Not to mention the fact that as a shield system, they're a pain in the ass to maintain," my XO said as he floated through, "I was an engineer back when we started creating modern shield tech. White Section played with that sort of technology but couldn't get it to work. The required powerplant alone is immense, let alone the required volume for the infrastructure. Though, if you can pay the two price tags, then you've got something that works against pretty much anything short of exotics." I looked at the Holo-plot data with interest. "Last I've heard, White Section has been trying to improve the dispersion properties of our shields to help against shield disruptor fire." The one thing that humanity discovered when it went FTL was that several races had superior shield disruptor weapons than SolForce had in its arsenal. The Klackon, Alkari, and Tarkas are the most infamous in that regard. Dispersion fields have always had an edge in that regard, but, so far, the process to mitigate the downsides wasn't successful.

"Sensors to CIC; new contact detected!"

"Sensors, report!" I ordered.

"The cheeky bugger decided to hide in the proplyd! Passives detected him as he exited. Contact appears to be a destroyer type. He's relatively unarmed from what the passives can pick up. Distance, 850km from the Stiletto of Sorrow."

"Alright, send the SFSV Stiletto of Sorrow to investigate, focused active only. I don't want the Loroi and Umiak to know we're here just yet," I ordered, "Get the batteries into standby; if they want to start shooting, we've got to be ready for it. Communications, get the first contact package out on a tight beam to the unknown. If I have to hazard a guess, we're dealing with someone else." The current chief communications officer nodded and got the primary communications array to send the tight-beam message.

"Energy spike! Unknown has opened fire with a particle cannon."

"All stations to quick alert!" I ordered, "Brace for impact!" The vessel shook as the particle cannon shots hit the shields.

"The Stiletto of Sorrow is returning fire!" The holo-plot showed the Stiletto of Sorrow firing its 40TW UV pulse lasers at the unknown, quickly damaging it. The unknown quickly started to maneuver, trying to escape its current predicament due to the disparity shown. The other Stiletto VIII ship, the Stiletto of Woe, shifted into the attack, lending its armaments into the fray. The unknown ship was quickly pot-marked with the carnage of pulse UV-lasers, sending its crew to their demise.

"Welp, so much for doing this stealthfully," I complained, "Alright, stand down from combat alert; set all stations to Condition 2, have DC sweeps prepared, and prepare AARs. Have the Stiletto of Sorrow send a boarding team ASAP; we need answers, that ship giving us those answers."

"Sensors to CIC; we've got a Loroi warship coming our way. Given the drive plume, we're looking at something in the megaton mass range using hydrogen as their drive propellant. Better armed than the ship we fought against but still somewhat pitiful in armament. I've seen light cruisers with more guns and launchers than that. If I were a betting man, most of that mass and size is likely on their propellant tanks than anything else."

That is weird, as anyone worth their salt would abandon hydrogen as STL propellant well before they went FTL. Hydrogen is just too bulky and only provides a pitiful thrust-to-weight ratio. Back in the fission rocket days, the most common drive propellant wasn't hydrogen but methane when solid cores were a thing. The moment viable gas-cores got into mass production, everyone went to water and never looked back. Races that still use reaction drives -or in the case of several, a mixed bank of reactionless and reaction STL drives- utilize water as their drive propellant. It is far more efficient, and it doesn't do things like cause carbon fouling.

"Prepare for our first contact with the Loroi and get that boarding team on the unknown ASAP," I ordered, "Stay at Condition Yellow; I don't want to be caught with our pants down." With that, things went apace, and our first contact with the Loroi slowly began...

[Quickdraw101]

You know, since the Gunboat idea is being implemented in Beacons, this makes me wonder how the Tenoin are going to react when they learn Jardin was the one who convinced them of the idea. I imagine Talon and Spiral might be very angry when they learn it was his idea.

[dragoongfa]

You know, since the Gunboat idea is being implemented in Beacons, this makes me wonder how the Tenoin are going to react when they learn Jardin was the one who convinced them of the idea. I imagine Talon and Spiral might be very angry when they learn it was his idea.

Depends on how successful the concept of the Tenoin flying them as they will proves itself; if they are able to do comparatively more with gunboats than with their fighters then they will be happy. On paper the gunboat has the firepower to punish any warship that the Umiak field, with its particle blasters and its torpedo and missile racks it can certainly cripple even a Super-Heavy with a good firing run provided that the pilots can find an opening. A flight of four gunboats working together like a flight of fighters would be a threat to be reckoned with.

[Kensai]

You know, since the Gunboat idea is being implemented in Beacons, this makes me wonder how the Tenoin are going to react when they learn Jardin was the one who convinced them of the idea. I imagine Talon and Spiral might be very angry when they learn it was his idea.

Depends on how successful the concept of the Tenoin flying them as they will proves itself; if they are able to do comparatively more with gunboats than with their fighters then they will be happy. On paper the gunboat has the firepower to punish any warship that the Umiak field, with its particle blasters and its torpedo and missile racks it can certainly cripple even a Super-Heavy with a good firing run provided that the pilots can find an opening. A flight of four gunboats working together like a flight of fighters would be a threat to be reckoned with.

My take on them is along the lines of the PT Boats of WW2... or even some of the small gun frigates from the Games Workshop ship game Battlefleet Gothic. Done right, the small gun frigates are harsh.... and given fighter tactics, such craft will do well. Firepower alone, they will slam far above weight class- and given any one in a flight of 4 can be a distraction for the target of their "affections"... I wholeheartedly agree with you.

[Bamax]

I am not as good a writer as you guys, but I would love to see a Loroi version of COPS if anyone wants to give it a shot

Bad girls, bad girls, whatcha gonna do?! Whatcha gonna do when they come for you!

Kind of like this but with Loroi, only filmed. It would be awkward because the viewer cannot tell what they are saying through Sanzai, but one officer could talk to the camera-man every now and then.




Would be entertaining to interact with drunken Loroi, disorderly Teidar, and more....maybe even Loroi males.

[Snoofman]

"Warriors! Warriors is recorded on location with the females of Union law enforcement. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty either in a court of law or by warriors with sufficient rank."

[dragoongfa]

Here, some more Beacons for everyone

This entry is all about Stillstorm and her introduction to the political side of her new rank.

EDIT: Finished some needed editing and clarifications.

[Bamax]

Here, some more Beacons for everyone

This entry is all about Stillstorm and her introduction to the political side of her new rank.

EDIT: Finished some needed editing and clarifications.

Shadow I only met now.... never read Beacons at length, but once you said Stillstorm I was drawn in.

I do admire Shadow's presence of mind to accept that she may die and prepare for what will follow for her people... what is best for them.

It is a human trait after all, and an admirable one at that. Unlike Shadow I would be less inclined to smirk just because my words are starting to have an impact on a person toward getting my way.

But neither am I surprised as Mizol seem to have an unscruplous reputation that must have been at least partially earned.

If manipulation is like sport to them, which I reckon it is, that alone would explain Shadow fighting the urge to smirk while persuading Stillstorm.

[Cthulhu]

I sure hope this did not raise a flag for poor Duskcrown to die a glorious death. I mean otherwise, Stillstorm would need to be promoted yet again, but by whom? Don't tell me the Emperor herself shows up on the frontline...

Why would I assume that? Because of your slip-up

“Guardian matron?” Stillstorm asked, actually surprised at that. “I never considered Duskdrown to be such and I doubt that she ever saw me as her protégé.”

Anyway, as awesome as ever, dragoongfa!

[dragoongfa]

Thanks, fixed that.

[entity2636]

Here, some more Beacons for everyone

Thank you very much! Excellent work as always!

[Cthulhu]

How about me writing a fanfic where the roles would be reversed? A stranded Loroi officer is rescued by a more advanced Humanity. For example, set right about now (in-comic), as the Umiak have overrun Leido. Would that be interesting?

[Krulle]

Yes, feel free!

Do you want the Bellarmine to have rescued a sole Loroi after the battle at Naam (Loroi Empire is what it is, and at war with the Umiak, the Humans try to remain hidden, and bring the Loroi survivor back to TCA space), or do you want Humanity to be in the total war vs. the Shells (the Loroi live on the backwater planet, and Earth Alliance is the Empire under attack)?

[Cthulhu]

Yes, feel free!

Do you want the Bellarmine to have rescued a sole Loroi after the battle at Naam (Loroi Empire is what it is, and at war with the Umiak, the Humans try to remain hidden, and bring the Loroi survivor back to TCA space), or do you want Humanity to be in the total war vs. the Shells (the Loroi live on the backwater planet, and Earth Alliance is the Empire under attack)?

Well, after some consideration, I decided to leave the Loroi and Umiak as they are right now and Humanity still distant. There's not enough lore on the current Umiak, thus trying to write a story about them would be an order of magnitude more complicated, which would mean a much slower pace. I would also at least try and avoid a scenario where Humans simply rush to the rescue. Creating a story about Loroi as they were a century or so ago is actually not differnt enough to be significant because of their longevity. I may try that or a story about a human captured by the Umiak out of boredom if there is a hiatus, which is, I hope at least, unlikely at the moment.

As to the state of Humanity, in order to keep it interesting I'm going to roll dice to determine some key points. Technology level (although it will be at least up to par with Loroi), presense of Soia artifacts, territory size, population, government structure, etc.
For that I'll use a d10, here some examples for the government model choices :
1. Utter nightmare (something like Goa'uld domination)
2. Totalitarian dystopia (would 1984 even work in space?)
3. Cyberpunk (wake up, little Loroi, we have a Galaxy to burn)
4. Militaristic empire (the Mirror Universe Humanity from Star Trek)
5. Status quo (similar to what Arioch envisioned)
6. Unified Earth (at least some sort of a global government)
7. The illusion of Utopia (would you choose a beautiful lie over an ugly thruth?)
8. A telepathic society (Humanity finally breaking through the Soia failsafes)
9. A true Utopia (but why should we share our man-made Eden with others?)
10. The next step in the evolution of Mankind (we would change us for the better, right? ...right?)

Rolling those three times in order to create a background for how society got where it is now, I would get a good starting point. For example, 6-9-4 would mean an Utopia that evolved, failed and then devolved into an expansionist Empire (did someone say Cardassians?).

As to the ship, how about a Captain Nemo scenario? I mean, why would a more advanced Humanity even try to simply rush in...

[Krulle]

1984 would work in space.
It works in China (see Uigur lands), and in space you can control even more than anywhere on this world.

I fear our western freedom of science allowed technology to get so far, that non-democracies now have the tech to stay in power forever.
Because we sold it to them.

[Cthulhu]

Hmm, even though I like political discussions (I studied political science), this is not the right forum for that. I fear it would devolve into an ugly argument rather quickly, forcing Arioch to waste his precious time on moderation, rather then answering lore questions or drawing the next page.

[Krulle]

Yeah, my last paragraph is ...
The first paragraph is an example of supervision working.

But you're right, we should not discuss that topic here

[Cthulhu]

Yeah, my last paragraph is ...
The first paragraph is an example of supervision working.

But you're right, we should not discuss that topic here

Too late, you get -100 Social Credit Points, comrade.

For my fanfic, I'll try to keep contemporary politics vague enough, especially since my setting will feature Humanity about 100 years in the future compared to the comic timeline. Todays issues will be a matter of distant history at that point.