Color and Stealth

[G. Janssen]

Disclaimer.
Outsider and any and all related content is the intellectual property of Jim Francis a.k.a. Arioch.

- English is not my native language. This means that half the time it takes to write a chapter is spent checking expressions with Google Translate and other online sources. I appreciate criticism to improve myself. Feel free to yell at me.

- I'm writing this story chapter for chapter without having a real plot in mind. This makes it highly likely that inconsistencies will appear. Feel free to point them out. I will then travel back in time and alter part of the galaxy to correct them. It's no trouble. Really.

-Please forgive any creative freedom that conflicts with Outsider's canon.

---/\/---


Chapter 1. The Mission
---
When Torrai Torret Wildfire learned that her right to be represented by a defense attorney in court would not be honored and that she would not even be given access to a lawyer before her trial, thus making it impossible for her to obtain advice on how to best defend herself, she had been confused and outraged.
And when she was escorted from her cell to what she knew would be a farce of a trial, she was worried and angry.
"Something is very wrong." She thought. "So I cheated in a duel against the daughter of a Torrai Soshret who also happens to be a member of a highly influential family. But these things shouldn't be a reason to deny me the right to have a defense lawyer. So what is going on!?"
She was even more angry when she saw that one of the three judges was the mother of the opponent that she had beaten during the duel. A duel that was to be fought with fists, something that both fighters had agreed upon.
But Wildfire had decided to cheat by hiding a "surprise" in her fist wrappings. Her trained mind had been able to hide its use during the duel, but a single stray thought afterwards had exposed her.
"Oh well, fuck it." She thought. "I had a pretty good career."

---

"Torrai Torret Wildfire, you stand before us because you violated the ancient rules of the sacred ritual known as the Duel of Honor, with the intent to besmirch the honor of a fellow loroi warrior. What do you have to say in your defense?" Mom, who was seated on the left, sent.

"Guilty." Wildfire sent back. She couldn't bring herself to add "your Honor".

"And what made you, a Torrai, decide to act like a common ganger?" Mom sent.

"I wanted to win." Wildfire replied.

"And what about honor?"

"I think that honor is... overrated."

"A warrior without honor is nothing more than a thug. You know this." Mom sent.

"If being a thug is what it takes to win, then I have no problem being a thug. You read my record. You know this." Wildfire replied.

"Hmm. Will you do whatever it takes to win?"

"No. There are limits." Was Wildfire's reply. The answer was sent together with absolute, unmovable conviction.

"Oh, what wouldn't you do?" Mom asked.

A smug expression began to build on Wildfire's face. She knew that she had already been found guilty, that all of this was a charade and decided to make her final fight as honest -and as nasty- as she possibly could.
"Being a thug, instead of an "honorable" loroi warrior, means for instance that I would not commit acts of genocide against a civilian population, just because it decides to resist an oppressive occupation and has a natural resistance to sanzai."
"Being a thug, instead of an "honorable" loroi leader, means that I wouldn't look down on our allies and threaten them with war when they are outraged by the massacres committed by the "honorable" loroi warriors. Massacres committed, because a significant part of the loroi upper class considers itself and the other loroi vastly superior over everyone else."

"Enough." Mom sent.

"And the joke? The joke is that they consider themselves superior because of some miros crap that they made up themselves a long time ago. You know of what I speak: the miros crap that..."

"Enough!"

"that the Loroi are the true descendants of the Soia and the rightful heirs to their "divine" throne, instead of nothing more than expendable, lab grown cannon fodd..."

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Mom sent in rage while standing up and slapping the top of the bench with both hands repeatedly.

"This can easily be considered treason! Treason!" Mom sent while staring at Wildfire in disgust and anger.

"Gotcha." Wildfire thought. "Bringing that topic up works every time."
"So I'm a thug AND a traitor. Fine. But at least I'm not a hypocrite. Because hypocrisy is all that Loroi honor is. Loroi society has many different sets of rules. Most of them unwritten of course. There's the one for the warriors who are part of the upper class, the one for the warriors who belong to the lower class, the one for members of the tribes. And then there are the sets for the Loroi civilians, criminals, non-Loroi, etcetera."
"So screw this "honor". Yes, I will cheat, steal, lie, manipulate, deceive and subvert, if doing so increases the chance of winning. And you know that I have done plenty of these things during the war. But at least I don't differentiate between opponents based on their species or social status: one set of rules for all, myself included."

"You are disgusting. You would have made a great Mizol." Mom spat at her.

"Yes? The Navy didn't seem to mind my deceitful, dirty tactics during the Great War, when they yielded such spectacular results against the Shells that it got me three promotions in record time and a box full of decorations." Wildfire sent back mockingly.

"We were fighting for our survival as a species. We tolerated your shameful behavior during the war because we had no choice and because it was aimed at Shells and not at fellow loroi." Mom sent.

"Fellow loroi... So a loroi is a loroi? Then how do you explain that your "honorable" and highly trained Teidar daughter challenged me, someone who was born a member of a tribe that's looked down upon by many now and who is definitely not a martial arts expert like she is, to a duel? And that she did so, just so she could demonstrate to her entourage that a loroi from the upper classes will always be superior to a "fellow" loroi from the lower ones, even -or maybe especially- if that "fellow" loroi is someone who has been called a war hero on occasion?" Wildfire sent with a sense of contempt.
"If I had refused, she would've won. If I hadn't shown up, she would've won. If I had chosen to fight on equal footing, she would've won. Cheating was the only chance that I had, so I took it. She was so convinced of herself that she even allowed me to throw the first punch. Big mistake."
"In short: I "dishonored" myself by not treating an opponent, who disrespected me by considering me an inferior, in a respectful way. I "dishonored" myself by fighting in a "despicable" way against an opponent who challenged me solely for the despicable reason to humiliate me. I "dishonored" myself for using an artificial advantage against an opponent who possesses a natural one."
"Different sets of rules... One for the warriors who belong to the upper class and one for the rest of us. They get to challenge, humiliate and beat weaker opponents from the lower class for kicks, but when those opponents decide not to let them have their fun, they get dragged in front of a court."
An evil little smile began to build on Wildfire's face."I thorougly enjoyed watching that arrogant, obnoxious bitch daughter of yours lie bleeding, face down in the dirt, snorting and with her arse sticking up in the air like a miros sow in heat." She sent, while emphasizing certain sound effects and image details.

Mom was seething. If looks could kill then Wildfire would've burst in flames. The other two Torrai raised their eyebrows and stared at her in astonishment. One of the Teidar guards momenarily pouted her lips and frowned her eyebrows. "Oof!" She thought.

The three Torrai began sending to one another. Mom definitely had a lot of things to say. At the end of their lengthy sanzai conversation she sat down and folded her arms with a very unhappy look on her face.

"And now you if you excuse me, I'm done with this charade that you probably call a fair trial. I believe I have an appointment with a firing squad after all this." Wildfire sent.

"Defiant until the end and... indeed quite disgusting, I see. But why do you think this is a trial? Do you see a prosecutor in the room?" The Torrai Soshret seated in the center sent.

Wildfire looked around. She didn't. Two Teidar guards behind her, three Torrai in front of her. Nobody else. She had been way too angry and focused on Mom to notice. But if this wasn't a trial, then what the hell was it?

"After hearing your... colorful statement in the matter, we have decided that you are indeed more than suited for the job that the Navy has in mind for you. So, if you wish it, I will now read your "verdict". You are free to decline hearing what the Navy would ask of you. If you do, you will be taken back to your cell and put on trial. Make your choice." The Torrai Soshret sent.

"I will listen what you have to say." Wildfire sent.

"Very well." The Torrai Soshret sent. "You will be demoted to Soroin Torret. Partially as punishment and partially because a Torrai cannot be in command of a frigate. You will be put in command of the Moonless Night, a ship built around the stripped down and heavily modified core of one of the old, mothballed Cirrus class frigates."

"Cirrus class!? Old? Those are bloody ancient! The Navy uses them for target practice!" Wildfire thought.

"You will recruit a crew." The Torrai Soshret sent. "You are given carte blanche to recruit anyone you want, as long as the candidates possess qualities that are suitable to complete the mission you will now receive."
"Moonless Night is to enter a number of neutral systems, including those that mark the border between Humanity and Union space, as well as several systems within sovereign Humanity space. In those systems she will actively search, hunt down and destroy every trace of raider presence."
"She will collect anything that might be of interest to the Loroi Union: items, people, technology, information, etcetera."
"To achieve this goal, her commanding officer will employ whatever tactics she deems necessary, no matter how dirty or underhanded."
"Moonless Night will avoid the T.C.A. Navy and other human vessels at all cost, be it outside or inside human territory."
"In case she is detected and engaged by the T.C.A. Navy or other human non-raider vessels inside sovereign human space, she will not defend herself in any way that causes harm to the attacking vessels."
"Her commanding officer will not allow her to fall into human hands."
"She will also avoid Union ships that aren't part of this operation, even if they are in distress. We can't have rumours floating around about strange, black ships that are very helpful to Union ships."
"Should the humans begin to suspect that loroi warships are covertly operating in their sovereign space, we will deny involvement. Should the humans confront us with evidence, the intelligence department has a plan in place."

"Which is?" Wildfire asked herself while listening to the Torrai's list of orders.

"In case a recall fails or is impossible, the humans will be made to believe that these ships belong to a terrorist Union faction and the Union will offer its full aid in their destruction." The Torrai Soshret sent.

"Of course..." Wildfire thought and eyeballed inside her mind.

"Should any member of her crew be caught, we expect her to commit suicide. Captured members of the crew who fail to commit suicide shall receive no aid whatsoever from the Union and become a target for assassination." The Torrai Soshret concluded.

"Well, shit!" Wildfire thought. Her lips however soundlessly formed the words "Well, poop!"
"So the Navy's plan is to send thugs in a scrapheap to fight other thugs?" Wildfire sent with a sense of unbelief. "In another nation's space? Without that nation's permission? And when attacked by that nation's armed forces, I'm not even allowed to fight back, but have to blow myself up? Can I choose to be shot by a firing squad instead? I think my chances of survival will be better."

"Sure. It's waiting for you out back." Mom spoke, using her voice.

"Make no mistake, Torret Wildfire." The Torrai Lashret seated on the right sent. "The original Cirrus class is indeed outdated. By modern standards it's considered slow, not very agile and underarmed. But Moonless Night and her two sister ships Lunar Eclipse and New Moon are anything but outdated. The reasons for that is that they have been completely redesigned with a single purpose in mind: stealth."
"They are also equipped with the latest in e-warfare and sensor technology. Technology that is a Pipolsid top scientist's wet dream."
"And much of their weaponry is highly unconventional. It was some of the humans who reside in loroi space who came up with the ideas for these weapons. The ugly males truly have devious minds."

"Humans living in loroi space?" Wildfire asked.

"Yes." The Sashret replied. "A surprising number of Human males ventured into loroi space, after diplomatic relations were established between Humanity and the Union. Many said they came to "try to get lucky". And who are we to stand in the way of dalit? Many applied for Union citizenship and quite a few received it. After much scrutiny of course."
"Many of the new citizens turned out to be harmless and quite interesting. Did you know that all of them are extremely infatuated with loroi females? Their females must be hopelessly inept."
"Most of these males are content with spending their days working simple, temporary jobs, playing video games, drawing images of stylized female characters whose names always seem to end in "-chan" and posting messages on some of the more colorful boards on UnionNet. In particular on a board called "Maiachan", which was created by one of them."
"Their postings have provided us with a treasure trove of information on Humanity. We bait them with a topic and they bite. And providing a number of the more valuable ones with Mizol "girlfriends" resulted in obtaining even more valuable information."
"But let's get back to the main topic. You will understand the reasons that we cannot allow these ships to fall into Human hands. We are taking a risk here and... This may sound strange, but the Navy trusts you."
"We all know your record. You are many things indeed, but you are not a traitor. There are some high ranking officers who truly hate your guts, but even they trust you."

Wildfire looked at mom.

"I only agreed to this because in case you, your crew and your ship do get blown up, the only thing of value that we lose is the ship." Mom sent with a mocking grin on her face.

"And as for the thug part, yes." The Torrai Soshret in the center sent. "The Navy has been... less than successful in combatting the raider pests. Therefore, after much debate and even more reluctance, the Navy was ordered to try a radical new approach and fight them in a way that is an affront to everything that is even remotely loroi."
"But the problem, as we soon found out, was finding people who are both willing and able to lower themselves to a pirate's level. Meaning to adopt a pirate's mindset and use the vile, underhanded and dirty tactics that are needed to effectively combat them."

"And this is where I and others like me came into the picture." Wildfire stated.

"Indeed."

Soroin Torret Wildfire began to think.
"What if I refuse and choose to be tried instead?" She asked.

"Tried? Now that you have heard all this highly classified and highly sensitive information?" Mom sent and smiled.

"Argh!" Wildfire thought. She had only been joking about the firing squad and thought that mom had done the same, since she had used her voice. "What is the reward if the Navy deemes the mission a succes?" She asked.

"A clean slate and reinstatement of former rank for you and every other member of your crew and a "do four, get the fifth for free" permit to male companionship for you." The Torrai Soshret sent.

"What about recruited civilians who have no military background?" Wildfire asked.

"An substantial amount of money. Taxfree. However, if there are civilians who wish to be elevated and receive warrior status instead, we are prepared to grant it. But only when these civilians have sufficiently performed above and beyond of what can be expected of civilians. These individuals will be made part of the Soroin warrior caste, receive training and -in case they successfully complete their training- be given the novice rank of Paset." The Torrai Soshret answered.

"Can I recruit members who belong to other species, including humans?" Wildfire asked.

"Anyone who is not a citizen of the Union will require prior approval." The Torrai replied.

"And the other two ships?" Wildfire asked.

"Their crews will also consist of... colorful individuals. One of them far more colorful than you. The Soshret answered and displayed a faint smile.

"I accept." Wildfire sent.

"A shame." Mom replied. "Teidar Hammer, tell the firing squad to stand down."

"One more thing before we conclude these proceedings." The Torrai Soshret said. "Torret Wildfire, I order you to do something about that massive chip on your shoulder. It doesn't become you."

"Yes Torrai Soshret. I... will do my best." Wildfire said.

---/\/---

[wolf329]

This is going to be a fun one. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

i would never call my mizol waifu -chan though

[Krulle]

Oh yeah, we Human males are among the worst the Loroi have ever seen.


I am looking forward to your story, G.

[G. Janssen]

Chapter 2. A Colorful Trio
---
"It sort of looks looks like one of those human cigars." Wildfire sent as the shuttle passed along the completely black hull of Moonless Night for a first inspection. She was only able to see her because she was in orbit around Mezan and the planet was serving as a background.

"It looks like a dildo." Soroin Torret Fray sent. She was the new commanding officer of Lunar Eclipse. The image of the dildo that she sent was animated and highly specific. And accompanied by a faint emotion of pleasure.
Fray was from Taben and had earned her name because a carnivorous fish had done a number on her left ear. Of course she could have it healed, but she had decided that it suited her. She had been a Tenoin Mallas for a whole week until about a year ago.
At the end of her career as a Tenoin Baistil she had accumulated a score that surpassed that of any other pilot in her strike group. She had also refused to die, despite having her craft shot out from under her on more than one occasion.
After 16 of her 23 diral sisters had died in combat, the diral-seii had been handed to her. But instead of wearing it, she had spit on it, put it under a press in the ship's workshop and crushed it. It had resulted in a fight between her and her diral-sisters. One that had landed her in medbay. But most remarkably, after the incident not one more of them had died.
She would have progressed through the ranks somewhat faster, if it hadn't been for her regular questionable behavior. It had varied from gambling on duty to disobeying orders to attempting to sneak into a male's pagoda. Much of it was ignored by her commanding officer, because A. there was a bloody great war going on, B. she usually caused the bugs to lose an additional ship or two when disobeying orders and C. because of her long and ever growing list of accomplishments.
But then, nine years after the war had ended and a week after she had received her promotion to Tenoin Mallas, she decided to get drunk for some reason, start a barfight and punch two Torrai in the face. Hard.
She was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. To her surprise she was allowed to keep her status as a warrior, although she was demoted to the rank of Tenoin Arrir.
Then, slightly over one week ago, she had been taken out of her cell and put in front of three Torrai, one of them being one of her barfight victims.
She had been given a choice: to be taken back to her cell and sit out the remaining seven years of her sentence -but only before hearing what the Torrai had to say- or listen to them and then make another decision.
After a hefty debate because her former victim had decided to really piss her off for some reason, she had chosen the latter. She also decided to accept the mission that the Torrai had offered her after some deliberation.
And she had done so not in the least because her instincts had begun to scream at her that a refusal was not an option.

"Its shape is indeed.. quite unconventional." The voice of Soroin Torret Coldstone, the new commanding officer of New Moon sounded. Unlike most Loroi, Coldstone almost exclusively used her voice. She even used it to sing in public. She was considered highly eccentric.
She had discovered Human music not long after Humanity and the Union had made contact and had become enthralled by a number of its genres.
After having listened to a recording that she had received from one of her Human friends, who told her that the music it contained was called "Ode to Joy" and that it had been composed by a famous, male composer who was deaf and named "Beethoven", she had become quite emotional.
Wildfire and Fray had read Coldstone's very extensive service record. It was highly impressive to say the least and full of highly unorthodox approaches, tactics and solutions. It contained some other highly unusual details as well.

"Retired from service? 342 years old!? A Torrai Sillatozan!? And before that, a Teidar Rozerrei who would talk and sing!?" Fray had sent in unbelief.

"Hmm, I don't think I really sang back during my Teidar days. I think it was more like humming."

"Don't Teidar take their traditions very serious?" Wildfire asked.

"Pffft. The tradition got boring." Coldstone replied.

"Boring.." Wildfire sent.

"A talking Teidar.." Fray sent.

"A singing Teidar.." Wildfire added.

"A former talking and singing Teidar. And one who is very good at singing. Would you like to hear one of my songs?" Coldstone asked and smiled.

"Another time, thanks." Both Fray and Wildfire sent in unison and looked at each other in surprise.

"You youngsters don't know what you're missing."

"So you were put on the Torrai track despite your eccentric behaviour." Wildfire sent.

"Yes. You see, singing isn't the only thing I'm good at." Coldstone said and winked.

"Uhuh. There are hardly any strikes against you on your record and none that date after your promotion to Torrai. In fact, you're retired! So what caused you to be marched in front of the Fearsome Trio and be offered The Choice?" Wildfire asked.

"Marched? Oh no. I volunteered." Coldstone said.

"You volunteered!?" Fray sent with unbelief. "Why? How did you even know of this mission's existence? It's supposed to be top secret."

"As for the first: I was bored. It seemed like fun. Still does. And as for the second: I'm not telling."

"Great, a crazy, talking Teidar.." Wildfire sent.

"A crazy, singing Teidar.." Fray sent.

"A former crazy, talking and singing Teidar. And one who is very good at singing. Are you sure that you youngsters don't want to hear one of my songs?" Coldstone asked and smiled.

---/\/---

[wolf329]

Suicide Squad: Outsider edition. This is really shaping up to be a good one. And don't fret about short chapters, just put the work in to make them good. Terry Pratchett only wrote 400 words a day.

[Bamax]

Not gonna lie.... this is entertaining.


My only real crticism is that Loroi do not.... converse in the in the 'human style' depicted.


Loroi insults are sound silly actually and seemingly less hurtful tham human ones.

Loroi simply do not use some of the popular curse words that are popular among humans.

In fact thw only one they have in common with us that have seen used is the curse word for 'poop'.

That said, even then Loroi warriors do not speak like wannabe human thug lifers who insert the S word for everything because they think it makes them look cool or acceptable to other wannabe's.

Loroi warriors have more.... Loroi priorities

.

[G. Janssen]

Not gonna lie.... this is entertaining.

My only real crticism is that Loroi do not.... converse in the in the 'human style' depicted. Loroi insults are sound silly actually and seemingly less hurtful tham human ones.

Loroi simply do not use some of the popular curse words that are popular among humans. In fact thw only one they have in common with us that have seen used is the curse word for 'poop'.

That said, even then Loroi warriors do not speak like wannabe human thug lifers who insert the S word for everything because they think it makes them look cool or acceptable to other wannabe's.

Loroi warriors have more.... Loroi priorities

I absolutely agree with you in part. But I'm allowing myself some creative freedom. And I see that I may indeed have gone wrong in a few places when it comes to their spoken insults.

But let me give you my opinion (and that's all it is) on things.

Loroi spoken insults sound indeed very funny to us. Even though they are spoken with the most serious intent. But I think that this is because most Loroi are "verbally disabled" people.

Trade has a very limited number of characters and sounds. The majority of Loroy can't speak it. Many Loroy don't speak at all. Loroi spoken poetry and written literature must be extremely primitive, if there is any at all.

hat does it mean that Cloud -for instance- can't speak trade? If sanzai would consist of words in Trade that are sent with additional information, she should be able to just open her mouth and translate the words in her head into spoken sounds. We do that all the time.

And although we Humans can't send our intents, emotions, images, etcetera directly into other people's heads, we certainly have them in our own heads when we speak.

Sure, the additional information wouldn't be relayed if Cloud would speak to a Human, but surely she would be able to make herself somewhat understandable?

But in my humble opinion she can't. She would speak like a bumbling toddler at best. And this is because I think that sanzai isn't Trade that is sent with additional information, but information that may or may not be accompanied by a little bit of Trade.

Show a baby or a toddler a picture of a dog and she will probably recognize it. But that doesn't mean that she knows that it is called a "dog". If she had sanzai, she would be able to transmit the image of a dog and her desire to pet it and do so starting at a very, very young age. But verbally saying "may I pet your dog?" would be impossible, because she hasn't learned the words yet.

But how would I translate sanzai into our language?

Sure, I could write "[intense picture of poop], [concept of memory], [picture of Cloud], [feeling of surprise] when she [picture of crossed feet], [concept of idiocy], [picture of dog] that had [concept of speed], [concept of free will], [animation of walking] in front of [picture of Cloud]".

Or I could write ">Shit!< Cloud thought and sent the memory of when she stumbled over a dumb dog that had suddenly decided to walk in front of her".

As you can see the second option is a lot shorter, so I'm going with that one.

It's mentioned that Loroi sanzai is much faster than our spoken language. But any word in Trade that is sent would take up as much time as it would when spoken. Go ahead: try to send the literal word "automobile" really, really fast in your mind. You can't. The moment you try it turns into an image of an automobile and that's what you would be sending instead.

It's also mentioned that Loroi history is a bloody one because of the 'honesty' that is relayed when using sanzai. But let's be honest, one does not start a war when one is verbally called a "poop head" or when it is received with sanzai.

However, if one's sanzai transmits the animated and highly realistic image of a humongous, disgusting pile of fly and maggot covered shit that's dripping from a person's shoulders, complete with its rich fragrance and the emotion of revulsion and the opinion that it should be flushed down a toilet to the leader of a nation (and everyone else in the room), the big, red button would immediately be pressed. Having the literal word "poop head" included in the message would make no difference whatsoever.

So I think that untrained Loroi ("untrained" meaning not being fluent in spoken trade), like very small children, are hopelessly inept with spoken language and thus simply cannot do more than say innocent and funny things like "poop head" and "plunger", but that inside their heads these things take a very different and very serious form.

And then there's the matter that Loroi warriors are females. And females are vicious creatures. Or can be. And Loroi females are not only vicious some of the time, but also aggressive all of the time. The structure and strict rules of their society and warrior honor code evolved as a necessity to keep them in check.

Put a bunch of Loroi toddlers on an isolated island and let them grow up and you get Lady of the Flies. And it would make Lord of the Flies look like a visit to church.

You better believe that they're thug life in the flesh. But only when they think that nobody can hear them. Because then they're all about protocol, discipline, upbringing and honor and such.

[thinking out loud mode]
Fireblade could most definitely be thinking "F----------CK!" but she probably wouldn't say it. She'd say "PLOOOOWTHAAAATFIEEEELD!" So technically, that is one mistake that I made.

However, using "PLOWTHATFIELD!" in this spot wouldn't relay her frustrations and rage to us. It would sound silly.

But here's a very upset person who's about to go completely berserk and blast a cargo bay to bits to kill that thing even if the cost is her own life.

It is also meant to indicate that her dark side from her past is about to awaken. Hmm... Have to think about this.
[/thinking out loud mode]

But thanks for pointing it out, because I really hadn't considered it. I will correct the language of untrained Loroi where it is spoken. That may make it even funnier because it might create some misunderstandings when they try to speak with members of other races. Or to their commanding officers over the intercom.

Edit: I decided to alter Fireblade's spoken sentences in The Thing. She now expresses her desire to plunge and plow a field.

[Tamri]

In general, I agree, except that it is "simple" to transfer "words" from thought to verbal speech.

It is VERY difficult. We don't notice it because, hey, we learn it from birth, by listening to speech and learning it, and then by practicing speaking ourselves. We literally talk all our lives, from the cradle, and we learn this all our lives.

Loroi does NOT study. At least right away. They don't need to because their way of communicating is non-verbal. They do not need to learn to turn thoughts into words and then articulate them correctly, after which they also build coherent sentences from them during a verbal conversation.

Some of them learn - quite late, not earlier than during the preparation for diral, but in general I am sure that many do not learn this at all. Mizol, Tennoin and Torrai probably learn from specialized training after initiation - they need it for work, Soroin and Teydar probably learn when they are promoted to the top of the caste hierarchy, because higher officers need it too. Verbal speech is probably taught by Listel in one way or another.

But everyone else may not have mastered the skill of verbal speech for centuries and feel fine.

[G. Janssen]

In general, I agree, except that it is "simple" to transfer "words" from thought to verbal speech.

It is VERY difficult. We don't notice it because, hey, we learn it from birth, by listening to speech and learning it, and then by practicing speaking ourselves. We literally talk all our lives, from the cradle, and we learn this all our lives.

Loroi does NOT study. At least right away. They don't need to because their way of communicating is non-verbal. They do not need to learn to turn thoughts into words and then articulate them correctly, after which they also build coherent sentences from them during a verbal conversation.

Some of them learn - quite late, not earlier than during the preparation for diral, but in general I am sure that many do not learn this at all. Mizol, Tennoin and Torrai probably learn from specialized training after initiation - they need it for work, Soroin and Teydar probably learn when they are promoted to the top of the caste hierarchy, because higher officers need it too. Verbal speech is probably taught by Listel in one way or another.

But everyone else may not have mastered the skill of verbal speech for centuries and feel fine.

My thoughts exactly!

[Bamax]

Not gonna lie.... this is entertaining.

My only real crticism is that Loroi do not.... converse in the in the 'human style' depicted. Loroi insults are sound silly actually and seemingly less hurtful tham human ones.

Loroi simply do not use some of the popular curse words that are popular among humans. In fact thw only one they have in common with us that have seen used is the curse word for 'poop'.

That said, even then Loroi warriors do not speak like wannabe human thug lifers who insert the S word for everything because they think it makes them look cool or acceptable to other wannabe's.

Loroi warriors have more.... Loroi priorities

I absolutely agree with you in part. But I'm allowing myself some creative freedom. And I see that I may indeed have gone wrong in a few places when it comes to their spoken insults.

But let me give you my opinion (and that's all it is) on things.

Loroi spoken insults sound indeed very funny to us. Even though they are spoken with the most serious intent. But I think that this is because most Loroi are "verbally disabled" people.

Trade has a very limited number of characters and sounds. The majority of Loroy can't speak it. Many Loroy don't speak at all. Loroi spoken poetry and written literature must be extremely primitive, if there is any at all.

hat does it mean that Cloud -for instance- can't speak trade? If sanzai would consist of words in Trade that are sent with additional information, she should be able to just open her mouth and translate the words in her head into spoken sounds. We do that all the time.

And although we Humans can't send our intents, emotions, images, etcetera directly into other people's heads, we certainly have them in our own heads when we speak.

Sure, the additional information wouldn't be relayed if Cloud would speak to a Human, but surely she would be able to make herself somewhat understandable?

But in my humble opinion she can't. She would speak like a bumbling toddler at best. And this is because I think that sanzai isn't Trade that is sent with additional information, but information that may or may not be accompanied by a little bit of Trade.

Show a baby or a toddler a picture of a dog and she will probably recognize it. But that doesn't mean that she knows that it is called a "dog". If she had sanzai, she would be able to transmit the image of a dog and her desire to pet it and do so starting at a very, very young age. But verbally saying "may I pet your dog?" would be impossible, because she hasn't learned the words yet.

But how would I translate sanzai into our language?

Sure, I could write "[intense picture of poop], [concept of memory], [picture of Cloud], [feeling of surprise] when she [picture of crossed feet], [concept of idiocy], [picture of dog] that had [concept of speed], [concept of free will], [animation of walking] in front of [picture of Cloud]".

Or I could write ">Shit!< Cloud thought and sent the memory of when she stumbled over a dumb dog that had suddenly decided to walk in front of her".

As you can see the second option is a lot shorter, so I'm going with that one.

It's mentioned that Loroi sanzai is much faster than our spoken language. But any word in Trade that is sent would take up as much time as it would when spoken. Go ahead: try to send the literal word "automobile" really, really fast in your mind. You can't. The moment you try it turns into an image of an automobile and that's what you would be sending instead.

It's also mentioned that Loroi history is a bloody one because of the 'honesty' that is relayed when using sanzai. But let's be honest, one does not start a war when one is verbally called a "poop head" or when it is received with sanzai.

However, if one's sanzai transmits the animated and highly realistic image of a humongous, disgusting pile of fly and maggot covered shit that's dripping from a person's shoulders, complete with its rich fragrance and the emotion of revulsion and the opinion that it should be flushed down a toilet to the leader of a nation (and everyone else in the room), the big, red button would immediately be pressed. Having the literal word "poop head" included in the message would make no difference whatsoever.

So I think that untrained Loroi ("untrained" meaning not being fluent in spoken trade), like very small children, are hopelessly inept with spoken language and thus simply cannot do more than say innocent and funny things like "poop head" and "plunger", but that inside their heads these things take a very different and very serious form.

And then there's the matter that Loroi warriors are females. And females are vicious creatures. Or can be. And Loroi females are not only vicious some of the time, but also aggressive all of the time. The structure and strict rules of their society and warrior honor code evolved as a necessity to keep them in check.

Put a bunch of Loroi toddlers on an isolated island and let them grow up and you get Lady of the Flies. And it would make Lord of the Flies look like a visit to church.

You better believe that they're thug life in the flesh. But only when they think that nobody can hear them. Because then they're all about protocol, discipline, upbringing and honor and such.

[thinking out loud mode]
Fireblade could most definitely be thinking "F----------CK!" but she probably wouldn't say it. She'd say "PLOOOOWTHAAAATFIEEEELD!" So technically, that is one mistake that I made.

However, using "PLOWTHATFIELD!" in this spot wouldn't relay her frustrations and rage to us. It would sound silly.

But here's a very upset person who's about to go completely berserk and blast a cargo bay to bits to kill that thing even if the cost is her own life.

It is also meant to indicate that her dark side from her past is about to awaken. Hmm... Have to think about this.
[/thinking out loud mode]

But thanks for pointing it out, because I really hadn't considered it. I will correct the language of untrained Loroi where it is spoken. That may make it even funnier because it might create some misunderstandings when they try to speak with members of other races. Or to their commanding officers over the intercom.

Edit: I decided to alter Fireblade's spoken sentences in The Thing. She now expresses her desire to plunge and plow a field.

Great! I just wanted the work to feel authentic is all.

One of the reasons Spiral's dialogue is so hilarious is because it is incomplete language and sounds childish even though she is technically a grown woman.


And I feel sorry for Fireblade apparently unknowingpy eating catfood.

Last I checked pet food is a quality of meat that is the lowest...not even approved for human consumption.


It is ironic just how many myths a human could tell the Loroi about us that some Loroi may accept on good faith that are ignorant of Earth culture.

Of course I reckon at some point a Mizol browsed the internet on Earth and downloaded a bunch of webpages.

I do not know how free information access is among Loroi warriors.... but if a Loroi world wide web exists with the same freedom of access as our internet, then human and alien info, from the mundane to the important should totally be all over it.

My guess is that the internet is something civillian Loroi use the most, but it's creation was probably spawned by the military Loroi just like our own.

I think it is quite possible that Loroi internet would censor content they do not want Loroi to see, inasmuch if people like Tempo are quick to shush a Barsam speaking on live communication, surely they would do it on the internet.

Because Tempo very much is part of Loroi goverment.

[G. Janssen]

Chapter 3. Das Boot.
---
Gallen Sobatadi Quartz had left the shuttle's cockpit and joined the Torret Trio in the passenger cabin to start the introduction.

"Behold: the embodiment of stealth and our shipyard's greatest creation." She sent, her eyes gleaming with pride. "She and her sister ships are the final product of my personal vision, the hard work of many members of the Gallen and Listel castes and the endresult of a development that began over two decades ago."

"Two decades? Remind me, why didn't we use stealth during the war again?" Fray sent and looked at Wildfire.

"Because the Navy considered it dishonorable." Wildfire sent back. "Such tactics were considered low tide. The Navy was convinced that it could beat the shells with more conventional, more honorable tactics. She sent it with an animation of a Loroi who spat on the ground.

"Stealth would've saved a lot of lives." Fray sent.

"Yes, it would have." Wildfire sent. "Lab grown cannon fodder." She thought.

"Her length over all is 253 meters or 830 feet, which is rather long for a frigate." Sobatadi Quartz sent. "The reason for this is the set of long stern flaps that serve to hide the engine exhaust and cool and shield the exhaust plume. Her draught over all is 22 meters or 72 feet. Her centre beam is 28 meters or 92 feet."
"She is invisible for both radar and lidar, except from dead astern when her stern flaps are open. Infrared detection will only work in a very narrow cone from astern when her engine is running. But she will begin to light up after parts of her hull begin to heat up for any reason, for instance after her heatsinks become saturated."
"Visual detection only works in the same narrow cone from astern when her engine is running or when she is, as you can see, in front of a bright background. So don't position her in between a celestial body, a nebula, a star cluster, and a target."
"Magnetic and gravimetric detection will only become a problem at a very close range. She can be momentarily spotted by electromagnetic detection when you fire her railgun, because not all of the electromagnetic energy from its discharge is absorbed by her shielding."
"And of course she will become detectable when she jams or transmits. Highly detectable when she does so omnidirectionally."
"She has a single engine, which has been modified to function in both continuous and pulse mode. In pulse mode the engine will generate very short but powerful bursts. These bursts -or pulses- can be varied in both frequency and amplitude."
"The exhaust plumes that are generated in pulse mode make it much harder to detect her than a continuous exhaust plume would."
"A normal, continuous plume forms a continuous trail. And following that trail isn't that hard. But what if there's only the occasional isolated cloud of gas? Following a track like that is much harder."
"When using pulse mode you will want to strap yourselves in. It turned out that it is not possible for the inertial dampers to fully compensate for the rapid changes in acceleration when the engine is operating in pulse mode. And at higher pulse frequencies their effectiveness declines even more. And it does so at an exponential rate."
"The frequency where their decreasing efficiency become noticable is at about 1/3 Hertz at maximum pulse amplitude."

"What is the maximum pulse frequency?" Wildfire asked.

"Two Hertz at maximum amplitude. The lower the amplitude, the higher the maximum frequency. At some point it is more sensible to switch to continuous mode." Sobatadi Quartz answered.

"And her maximum acceleration in pulse mode?" Wildfire asked.

"At maximum amplitude, the pulse width is half a solon. Which means that the leading flank of each pulse lasts a quarter of a solon. She accelerates on the leading flanks with 55 standard G." Quartz sent back.

"Which is equal to 27.5 standard G per solon when using the engine in continuous mode." Wildfire sent.

"Hmm... I don't think it's quite correct to say it that way, but I know what you mean." Quartz answered and continued her presentation. "You can use pulse mode to shift her position suddenly. One pulse can shift her position an additional 270 meters or 885 feet in 0.25 solon, which is slightly more than her length. Great to avoid incoming fire, but bad for the crew's kidneys and several other organs. You have been warned."

"Not only the crew, but the engine and the rest of her must be taking quite a beating as well in those conditions." Fray sent.

"We are exceptionally proud of the engine and the rest of her. Seventeen engines blew up during testing before we even began to understand how to start doing things right. But rest assured: neither the engine nor the rest of her will fail." Quartz replied.

"Famous last words." Wildfire thought.

"The moment you stop the engine in either mode, the stern flaps, which are actively cooled, will close and cover the exhaust. This will render the hot exhaust invisible to infrared detection." Quartz sent.

"Excuse me, what is her maximum acceleration in continuous mode?" Coldstone asked.

"32 standard G sustained maximum. Hmm.. 37 if you really, really push her to her absolute limit, but this is only possible for a very short period. However, she will become vulnerable to infrared detection sooner or later when accelerating at any higher acceleration rate, because the stern flaps will no longer be able to cool the exhaust plume sufficiently. Continuing means that she'll become even more vulnerable a short period later, because the flaps themselves begin to heat up."

"I get it." Fray sent. "Keep it slow."

"Yes. You either have stealth or high acceleration. But not both." Quartz answered. "Should you want to prevent the flaps from heating up, then you will have to open them completely. They stick out at an almost 90 degree angle when fully extended. But doing so will cause her exhaust plume to become even more visible."
"The logical course of action when accelerating a higher Gs is therefore to fully open the flaps, accelerate, cut the engine and close the flaps. It's a great way to attract attention and then suddenly disappear."

"The acceleration is pretty good." Fray sent.

"Thank you." Quartz answered. "She may only have a single engine, but she has a lot less mass than other ships her size."
"The only main structures that contain significant amounts of metal are the railgun, reactor and engine. We replaced metal with ceramics, advanced polymers and other materials wherever we could."
"Her hull looks irregular. This is because it is covered in polygons that can tilt a number of degrees in every direction. This is to ensure that radiation from radar and lidar that isn't absorbed by their coatings, is deflected away from its source."
"To prevent buildup from heat by this or other any other type of electromagnetic radiation, they are actively cooled. Any heat is either fed into the reactor or the heatsinks. You will understand that this system has its limits, so stay away from a star. Should the reactor absorb too much heat, it can be dissipated by either using the engine or by -temporarily- dumping it into the heatsinks."
"The coatings that cover the entire hull absorb almost all of the radiation in several bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. But of course they can't withstand a hit by a sufficiently powerful laser, plasma or particle beam. In that case the coatings vaporize and the underlying surface is revealed. If it manages to survive, that is."

"What is her armor rating?" Wildfire asked.

"Well, I suppose she can withstand shots from a pellet gun." Quartz joked with a serious face. "Look, as I said: the hull is -among other things- a mixture of advanced polymers and ceramics and made to withstand impacts from micro-meteorites, small pieces of debris, etcetera. Her armor rating is twelve at the bow. For the rest it's around eight. And before you ask: no, she does not have screens."
"The thrusters are covered as well. They become uncovered only when they are fired. In order to prevent detection, I suggest using only the ones that are not visible to the target. The stern thrusters have their own smaller set of flaps and are invisible from the front until 50 degrees sideways."
"Let's see.. Hull.. Propulsion.. Ah yes, weapons."
"Much of her is built around the railgun that is almost as long as the ship, minus the length of the stern flaps. It runs along her port side and is the reason why her beam and draught aren't equal."

"Why a railgun instead of torpedoes?" Fray asked.

"This railgun fires torpedoes."

"Say what!?" Fray sent in unbelief.

"Yes... Guess who came up with the idea?" Quartz asked.

"Was it by any chance a human?" Wildfire asked.

"Heh, yes." Quartz chuckled. "He had posted "The only thing more epic than a revolver railgun that fires antimatter torpedoes is one that fires lazor sharks. Know your classics, retard." on some board called "Maiachan."
"When a Mizol approached us with the post in hand and asked us if such a thing was possible, we thought that she had gone weird in the head." Quartz sent with a feeling of amusement.

"All Mizol are at least a bit weird in the head." Coldstone said softly in an absent-minded way while staring at nothing and repeatedly flopping her right ear with two fingers.

Fray and Wildfire looked at each other and decided not to say anything.

"But a member of one of our teams became interested in the idea and developed a simulation. And that simulation showed that it was indeed possible." Quartz sent.
"Possible, but only if the torpedoes were properly encased, redesigned, reinforced, cooled, resized, etcetera, etcetera."
"Honestly, we had -relatively speaking of course- more trouble with developing the torpedoes, than with the development and construction of the guns and the necessary alterations to the ships to fit them."

"What is the advantage of it?" Wildfire asked.

"Hmm. As you know, a standard torpedo is fired from a short tube. Its starting speed is equal to the speed of the ship that fires it. The torpedo then spends fuel to accelerate. And by the time it has spent all of its fuel, it has reached a very high speed. Of course, all it does after spending all of its fuel, is scratch a target's paintjob or maybe dent its hull. I consider it a mistake that a torpedo's fuel is also it's payload. But that's the way it."
"A torpedo's exhaust plume is what causes a target to see it close in initially. The target will then attempt to intercept it by using PDMs, LACs, interceptors, etcetera."
"To score a hit, the standard tactic of an attacker is to overwhelm its target's defenses by firing a massive amount of torpedoes. Very wasteful. The Shells used it as part of their tactics to close the range between their ships and ours."
"But what if a torpedo is given a high initial speed during launch and also has excellent stealth properties?"
"The speed it would have immediately after being fired from a railgun wouldn't be nearly as high as the speed that a standard torpedo would have after expending all of its fuel. But it wouldn't need to have a high speed. It can take its time to travel to a target, because the target won't see it coming. There would be no attempts to intercept it."
"Such a torpedo would only spend fuel to correct its course and, in case a course correction alone would no longer be sufficient to reach the target, engage its propulsion system to accelerate until its guidance system would determine that a hit is ensured again."
"Such a torpedo would, much more often than a standard one, arrive at its target with most if not all of its fuel supply intact and..."

"Go boom!" Coldstone said.

"Exactly." Quartz sent. "And in case it wouldn't spend any fuel at all during its travel through space, its action radius would only be limited by the charge in its batteries."
"It could hit "stationary" targets at any distance and large, slow moving targets at great distances. But at those distances it would take a significantly longer time for it to travel than a standard torpedo. However, unlike a standard torpedo, at those distances a stealth torpedo would still be able to "go boom."
"At shorter distances, its high initial speed would provide it with a speed advantage over a standard torpedo. At very close range, a target would hardly have the time to react at all. That is, if it would be able to see it coming."
"She can launch torpedoes in the conventional way as well. Something I recommend using against a target that is located astern and you don't want to turn the ship to face it."
"In that situation, the torpedo will exit the tube at a speed that is marginally greater than that of the ship, rotate one-eight-zero degrees while moving out of the way and propel itself away from the ship towards the target. It functions as a tracker mine that way."
"They're nasty and quite versatile. Their guidance systems can be programmed with a selection of available programs and parameters."

"Why didn't we have these during the war?" Fray asked.

"Because we didn't have more than one human male during the war, dear." Coldstone answered. "And the one we had didn't arrive until near the end."

"That settles it. I want one." Fray said.

"What, a stealth torpedo?" Coldstone asked?

"No, you silly! A human male."

"Hmm. It shouldn't be too difficult. I hear people don't even have to sneak into a guarded pagoda to get one." Coldstone said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Fray stared at her for a moment while her cheeks and ears turned a deeper shade of blue, then turned away.

"And the revolver part?" Wildfire asked Quartz.

"The torpedoes are loaded into a revolving magazine -the revolver- at the rear of the launch tube slash railgun. The revolver surrounds the rear part of the engine and is the reason that the hull extends somewhat past the engine exhaust. Torpedoes are fed into the revolver from the torpedo storage."
"Moonless Night and her sister ships each carry a complement of 36 stealth torpedoes. Their length and diameter are about 2/3 the size of a standard fusion torpedo."
"The maximum rate of fire is about once every five solons when the torpedoes are launched in the conventional way, meaning without the railgun's power. That is how fast the revolver can move a single chamber and feed a torpedo into the launch tube."
"Loading a torpedo from the storage into the revolver however, can take up to twelve solons. The revolver holds a maximum of twelve torpedoes."
"Since the revolver is filled on the starboard side of the ship and fires from the port side, the revolver has to move 6 chambers when moving a torpedo from the load position to the firing position. This means that loading a single torpedo from the storage into an empty revolver, then from the revolver in front of the launch tube and finally from the revolver INTO the launch tube, can take up to 12 + (6 * 1.5) + 3.5 = 24.5 solons. Refilling the entire revolver can take up to 144 solons or 2.25 bimas. You will understand that it's best to try to keep the revolver filled."

Wildfire yawned. Coldstone followed her example.

"Surely a magazine that large would be able to hold more torpedoes" Fray asked Quartz.

"Sure, but there is also such a thing as mass distribution. Every complex design is a compromise."
"The rate of fire is about once every ten seconds when using the railgun at maximum power. But this short time can only be achieved when the reactor is running at 85 percent of maximum safe output. A torpedo is loaded into the launch tube while the capacitor banks are charging."

"And what if the reactor runs at 100 percent?" Wildfire asked.

"It wouldn't matter." Said Quartz. "There's a limit to the speed with which the gun's capacitor banks can be charged. Using the engine while continuously firing the gun at maximum power is possible, but the engine will only function at about 17 percent of its maximum capacity. And that is when you want the reactor to be running at 100 percent."
"The exact number depends on the amount of power that is used by the rest of the ship's systems, but it lies between 15 and 20 percent."
"The reactor simply isn't powerful enough to power all of her systems at maximum power simultaneously. Maybe the next generation that fits in a narrow hull will be."
"There's also a retractable laser turret that is meant to be used against minor targets. I mean, why waste a torpedo on a beacon or pod? I don't recommend using it against anything that has an armor rating that exceeds 6 or maybe 7."
"Let's see... What else is there? Ah yes. She has a shuttle bay, but it won't fit a standard shuttle. She is capable of carrying a single modified skiff."

"Is it a stealthy skiff?" Coldstone asked and yawned again.

"Alas, no." Quartz answered "And then there are the e-war systems and advanced sensor array, the more exotic weapons and the drones. Unfortunately I can't tell you much about them. My colleague was supposed to, but she reported in sick."
"So this, I'm afraid, is the end of the introduction. You will find all information in much greater detail in the user manual that I will hand you now, including the information that you received from me in the past half hour. It's only 5,571 pages thick. Please do read it. Are there any more questions?"

---/\/---

[Bamax]

I actually enjoyed it.

Frank banter and unlike Star Trek technobabble it it actually makes sense of things that are at least realistic.

[raistlin34]

I wonder how the other aliens of the Union feel about the new race.
"So, are you saying humanity is not only almost as warlike as Loroi, full of males compatible and willing to breed with...but on top of that are giving Loroi ideas?!

[wolf329]

I wonder how the other aliens of the Union feel about the new race.
"So, are you saying humanity is not only almost as warlike as Loroi, full of males compatible and willing to breed with...but on top of that are giving Loroi ideas?!

"How do we get some?!"

"Radical, invasive, and permanent plastic surgery."

[G. Janssen]

Chapter 4. Recruitment: The Finishing Touch
---
"I should have come here sooner." Wildfire thought. It was her first visit to Donei. She was inside one of the establishments that the moon was famous, or -depending on one's views- notorious for.

"OINK-A-HUBBA HUBBA!"
"OINK-A-HUBBA OONG!"
"NOINK-A-TUBBA TUBBA!"
"NOINK-A-TUBBA VOONG!"

She had no idea what the Barsam, who was the leadsinger of the band that formed tonight's entertainment, was singing. But the crowd inside the club clearly liked it.
The almost exclusively female crowd that filled the floor of the club, also very much liked the three extremely scantily clad males, two of them Loroi and the third a Neridi, who were performing on another stage.
Their only piece of "clothing" was a leather harness that was doing its utmost best to keep a certain part of their bodies covered. The harness was attached to two bungee cords that came down from the ceiling and were just long enough for the performers to incidentally touch the stage with the tip of their feet during their show.
The performers swiveled, jumped and flipped, rolled and somersaulted on the beat of the music while simultaneously showing off their desirable male physique.

"Did you know that humans use poles?" Scar, who was standing next to Wildfire, said. "On Donei we have bungee dancers and they have pole dancers."

Scar was one of the club's bouncers and the broadest and most muscular loroi Wildfire had ever seen. If she were a ship, she would be a dreadnaught.
She had been a Gallen Bastobar and chief-engineer aboard a cruiser, before an incident that she was responsible for had cost the life of two of her subordinates. It had caused her to be court martialled, imprisoned and lose her status as a warrior.

"So we have a deal?" Wildfire asked.

"Yes, we ha... One solon!" Scar sent back while walking towards a clearly intoxicated loroi female who had climbed on the performers' stage and was trying to grab one of the male dancers in a location where no male dancer should ever be grabbed.
One moment later Scar had pulled the female down and handed her over to two of her colleagues who began escorting her to the exit.

"Thanks for the save, hun!" Said the male neridi who had been the focus of the female's overt enthusiasm and winked.

"Yes, we have a deal. I'll fill in the papers in the morning, hand them back to you and report for duty as stated in the documents. Thanks for offering me the chance to redeem myself for the act of stupidity that cost two lives and a career."

"We all make mistakes." Wildfire sent back. As she walked out of the club, Wildfire checked her pad. "And that makes another one. Only 3 more to go." She thought.

For almost two months she had been browsing and reading records. Military service records, police records, social services records. Almost 1800 of them from all over the Union.
After making her selection, she had begun to visit guild houses, military installations, warships, prisons, space stations, factories, etcetera.
Not all the people she had approached had agreed to join. And several times Wildfire had rejected individuals who, while talking to them, had begun to feel wrong.
But the number of people who would form the crew of Moonless Night grew steadily. Some of those who joined had made stupid mistakes. Others had been wronged by the military. There were a few -now former- gangers, some civilians who possessed unique skills and a few brilliant individuals.
But most of the people she had recruited were just warriors in active service. Some of these warriors had quirks. Many had broken rules on occation.
In general they had done so because they, just like herself and Fray, had difficulty fitting into the very tight corset of loroi society and military.
Upon hearing that they would be among similar individuals and that the Torret they would serve under was one of these individuals, they had begun to relax and express their relief that they could finally serve and fight in an environment and in a way that felt more natural to them.
All of them were good people, really. And experienced and competent at their jobs. And sometimes much more than that.
She kept in touch with Fray and Coldstone. Both had made similar progress in their recruitment effords.
After Scar had handed her back the paperwork, Wildfire took a flight to a city on Maia. The next name on the list belonged to a civilian who had no military experience whatsoever.

---

"Look! Look! This is where her head slowly gets sawn off! Listen to those screams! Look at all that blood! Hahahaha!"

Starlight, a native from Perrein, worked as a chef in a local restaurant. Wildfire knew that serving good food aboard a ship did wonders for moral and still needed a chief cook to run Silent Moon's galley.
Besides being a good cook, Starlight was also the number one fan of horror movies in the Loroi Union.

"It's awesome how her body just keeps twitching!" She sent full of joy.

Wildfire and Starlight were currently watching one of the many movies that Starlight had in her collection, after she had invited Wildfire to her house.
Wildfire had found Starlight's name in a police record. The reason there was a police record was because one day, Starlight had decided to honor all of her favorite movie heroes at once.

She had put on large rubber boots, a white dress that was covered in blood spatter, a blood-covered leather butcher's apron, a belt that had several bloody butcher's tools dangling from it, a mask that was made of leather pieces that were roughly stitched together and over it a contraption that consisted of tightly strung metal wires. On her right hand she had put on a glaive that had large knives welded to it.
She had then combed her long black hair in front of her face, put on a hockey mask on the back of her head and a hat on top of it. And after picking up a plastic replica of a chainsaw that she had made... she had gone outside.

Starlight had -unknowingly- discovered cosplay, becoming the first citizen of the Loroi Union to do so.

The rest of the visitors of the public park that she had chosen as the location to show off her highly original outfit and impressive acting skills, had discovered that they could run a lot faster than they had previously thought.

After having read the police record and various news articles about the incident, Wildfire had started thinking. "Here is someone who not only knows how to cook, but also how to act like an insane, sadistic, butchering maniac in a very convincing way. Surely that could be useful somehow when fighting raiders."

Starlight was an adventurous type of person who had worked on many planets and had almost immediately agreed to join after Wildfire had approached her at the restaurant where she worked. But only on the condition that she would be allowed to take her movie collection and outfits with her.

---

Wildfire, Fray and Coldstone were aboard the orbital shipyard that had designed and created Moonless Night and her two sister ships to discuss on how to best train the crews.
Wildfire needed to recruit two more people, Fray four and Coldstone had finished the recruitment process.

"How are you finished, when you still have one more position to fill?" Asked Fray.

Coldstone smiled, looked at Fray for a few solons longer than Fray found comfortable and said "I was in the Union's armed forces for a long time. I know the Navy. There's no reason to fill the last spot."

Wildfire, being the cynic that she was, thought for a few moments, then began to nod. "I think I know what you mean." She sent.

"Well, I don't." Sent Fray.

"You will." Said Coldstone and sipped her tea.

A light on Wildfire's pad started blinking. She activated its screen and saw that there was a message from a prison warden named Greenfield on Taben. It had a file attached.

"Oh no!" Wildfire thought when she had read halfway through the message with a troubled expression.

Emerald had been one of her closer friends during Wildfire's diral time. They had lost contact a couple of years after their first assignment on Deinar ended, but she had never forgotten her diral-sisters, including Phalanx who had died during their diral time and the six who had died in combat against the Hierarchy.
Emerald had done the unthinkable. She had laid hands on a male. In a bad way. And the punishment for that was death.
The loroi justice system was no joke. If someone was sentenced to death after having exhausted their legal options, the execution would normally take place within 8 days.
After receiving her death sentence, Emerald had requested the presence of a number of her diral-sisters to attend her execution.

Wildfire noticed that Coldstone was staring at her intently. "Are you alright?" Coldstone asked.

"I need to go." Wildfire sent while swallowing.

After taking the skiff down to Mezan's spaceport, she arranged a flight to Deinar and from there to Taben. She should be able to make it in time if nothing went wrong.

---

She did, though barely. She checked in at the prison entrance, went through the safety procedures and was escorted to the warden's office. Just outside the office were Punch, Ravine, Sun and Pebble, four of Wildfire's diral-sisters. She smiled only faintly at them, though she was happy to see them.

"You're just in time. Fifteen more bimas before we are to be escorted to the place of execution." Sun sent. "Just like you, Punch and I arrived today. We're not allowed to see her. We don't know why. But Ravine and Pebble arrived yesterday and were."

"What exactly happened?" Wildfire asked.

"It's bad." Ravine sent. "She..."

The door to the warden's office opened and the warden appeared. "Soroin Torret Wildfire? I have been expecting you. I'm very glad that you could make it. All of you, please step inside my office. Guard, be somewhere else."

The guard frowned, turned around and left.

"Here is what is going to happen." The warden spoke after closing the door. "In 14 bimas you will be escorted to the place of execution and be seated on the public tribune."
"The public tribune is packed. Among the visitors are reporters, chroniclers, the prisoner's mother, her victim, a few other males and their protectors. Even a few politicians."
"You have to understand that this is a very high profile case. A male was attacked and almost killed!"
"Next, your poor, poor friend will be brought out. You will make sure that the distress that you experience can be picked up by the people in your vicinity."
"She will be then be horribly shot. Again, you will make sure that the full distress and grief that you experience about the loss of your dear, lost friend can be picked up by the people in your vicinity."
"After the execution, you will answer any questions that reporters may ask about your deceased friend who you loved so very much. And after that you will be escorted back to my office."

"Are you some kind of sicko?" Sun asked. "And why are you using your voice?"

"All of you will now leave my office, except for Soroin Torret Wildfire." The warden spoke.

Sun and the others stepped outside and the door closed behind them. No thought or sound from inside the office could be picked up by them. Several bimas later the door opened again and a somewhat pale Wildfire stepped out.

"What is going on?" Punch asked.

"Do you trust me?" Wildfire asked, using her voice.

"After our diral time and that situation on Deinar? Of course we do." All four sent back.

"Good. Then you will do exactly what the warden told you to." Wildfire spoke.

The public tribune was indeed packed, but the group managed to find spot and sat down. Drum rolls began to sound. A few moments later, a prisoner with a hood over her head was escorted onto the grounds by two guards. They held her tight under her arms as if she had trouble walking.
Sun and her three friends tried to reach out to the prisoner with sanzai, but there was no response. They looked at Wildfire.

"Oh no! Poor Emerald!" She broadcast loudly. "They had to drug her! She was so afraid!"

The drum rolls changed. The prisoner was tied to a post. She slumped slightly.
The guards stepped aside and the leader of the firing squad approached the prisoner.

"Prisoner! Do you have any last words?" She broadcast.

Silence was the prisoner's response.
The leader of the firing squad stepped back. The drum rolls changed again, then stopped.

"Squad! Ready.. arms!" In perfect unison, the other seven members of the firing squad did so.

"Squad! Take.. aim!" Again, in flawless unison, the quad aimed their pulse rifles at the prisoner.

"Squad! Send.. fire!" KRKRAK! The prisoner heaved, her chest became a blue mess and she slumped.

After hearing Wildfire's broadcast, Sun and the others had done what the warden had asked them to do. A few reporters were asking them some questions. Wildfire however had left the vicinity of the tribune to isolate herself from the crowd and strongly concentrated on her diral time to prevent any stray thoughts. Everybody on that tribune had to be convinced that it was Emerald who had just been executed. After the reporters were done, Wildfire and her diral-sisters were escorted back to the warden's office, who again asked the guard to leave.

"Who was executed?" Wildfire asked.

"A ganger. A murderer. You don't need to know her name, just that she had also been sentenced to death. A shame that she will be found crushed to death under a press in the prison's workshop before she could be executed. But gangers tend to have a lot of enemies." The warden replied.

"You lied!" Pebble sent to the warden.

"Yes. I was following orders. It was necessary for you to truly believe that it was your friend who was executed. The prisoner came out with a hood over her head. That is unusual. Your sincere responses will have done a lot to remove any potential doubt or suspicion."

"Whose orders?" Wildfire asked.

The warden did not respond.

"You lied as well!" Pebble sent to Wildfire.

"Yes, I did."

"Well, I guess it's okay." Pebble said.

"Sweet, innocent Pebble." Wildfire thought to herself. "Never change."

"Where is she?" Wildfire asked the warden.

"She's being escorted out as we speak."

"How are you going to get her out?" Wildfire asked.

"I was told to alter the data in the system and enter the record of a non-existing prisoner who is scheduled to be released today. The same two "prison guards" who took the executed prisoner out of her cell and escorted her to the place of execution, will escort your friend out."

"They don't work here?"

"No. I don't know who they are. I was ordered to cooperate with them."

"Won't the other guards recognize her?" Wildfire asked.

"I was told that there was no need to worry about that." The warden answered.

Thirty bimas later Wildfire, Sun and the others and a very surprised Emerald, who was dressed in a guard uniform, a wig and sunglasses, were standing outside the prison.

A little distance away stood the two "guards". Only one was wearing a guard uniform. The other was dressed in civilian clothes and had a clean-shaved head.

A black vehicle approached and stopped next to the pair. One of the windows opened and a large, thick envelope appeared. One of the guards took it, walked over to Emerald and handed it to her without sending a word. Both then got into the vehicle, which drove off.

The envelope contained several identity and credit cards, a birth certificate, proof of citizenship, diplomas, instructions, money... Everything needed to provide a person with a new identity and a new life.

"What just happened?" Emerald sent.

"I'm glad to see you too, baldy." Wildfire sent back.

"Baldy!? Sorry. Of course I'm very glad to see you, Wildfire. And you too, Punch, Pebble, Ravine, Sun. But what happened? One moment I'm to be executed, the next I'm told to put on a uniform, think of fish as hard as I can and escorted outside."

"I have... no idea." Wildfire sent. "But let's go somewhere. Standing out here in the cold will cause your skull to freeze."

"I'm wearing a wig you know." Emerald replied.

"Just teasing." Wildfire sent jokingly. "Let's go have a few drinks, chat about the old days and catch up on each other. And then you can tell me why you decided to punch a male's face into a bloody pulp and turn him into a eunuch using a pair of kitchen scissors."

---

"Wave was my younger sister." Emerald, or Emery as she was now called sent softly. "Same mother, even the same father. We were close."
"She had just received permission to visit a male. It was to be her first time. She was so excited. So looking forward to it."
"But instead of receiving a night of passion, she was utterly humiliated. By that male."
"Witnesses that she passed on the streets after running out of the pagoda declared that they were struck by overwhelming feelings of hopelessness, shame, despair... Even self loathing."
"When they found her body, her face was wet with tears."
"She had jumped off a bridge."
"I didn't know at that time what had caused her to do so, but it could only have been the... male." Emery sent the image of the male together with the image of a Gorar, a creature that inhabited sewers and spread deseases.
"I swore to get to the bottom of things, but wasn't allowed to see it. So I began stalking it. One day, it and its two escorts were in a quiet location and I seized the moment. I stunned both guards and went to work."
"I grabbed it and told it who I was, among other things. I hadn't decided to kill it then. I just wanted to scare it into giving me answers. The flashes of recollection that I then received from its panicked mind were enough to confirm my worst suspicions."
"So I smashed its face in. It wriggled like a worm before going unconscious. But when I began squeezing its nuts with every bit of force that I had, it woke up and started squealing like a miros. I showed it the scissors... And then... Snip! Snip! I was going to watch it bleed to death."
"It was begging for its life." Emery whispered slowly while smiling and staring at a glass that stood on the table that the group was sitting at, like she was savoring every word. She looked up. "But I had forgotten about the escorts. One of them had woken up and knocked me out. The rest is history."

Wildfire, Sun and the others decided that they needed another drink. Or two. Or three. Or as many as they needed.

"Humans have a saying." Wildfire said later that evening. "Love and hate are both sides of the same coin. You must have loved her very much."

"I did. And I always will." Emery replied.

---

After arriving back in the Deinar system, Wildfire went aboard the shipyard for another meeting.

"Congratulations on finding a first officer and finishing the recruitment process." Coldstone said. "And are you alright now?"

"Yes. Thank you." Wildfire replied.

---/\/---

[wolf329]

And now it reminds me more of The Dirty Dozen, although I suppose Suicide Squad takes a lot of cues from that. A bit gruesome this chapter.

[G. Janssen]

And now it reminds me more of The Dirty Dozen, although I suppose Suicide Squad takes a lot of cues from that. A bit gruesome this chapter.

I'm just making it up chapter for chapter and see where it ends. There's no framework. I don't know Suicide Squad. I'll look it up.

Yes, this one was dark. It's simply not good to be silly all the time. Loroi, like Humans, are individuals. And just like Humans, some are kind and some are utter scumbags.

[raistlin34]

How often does a crime involving a Loroi male happen?

[wolf329]

And now it reminds me more of The Dirty Dozen, although I suppose Suicide Squad takes a lot of cues from that. A bit gruesome this chapter.

I'm just making it up chapter for chapter and see where it ends. There's no framework. I don't know Suicide Squad. I'll look it up.

Yes, this one was dark. It's simply not good to be silly all the time. Loroi, like Humans, are individuals. And just like Humans, some are kind and some are utter scumbags.

I think it worked fine, it wasn't over the top or gratuitous.

[Snoofman]

I was getting Suicide Squad vibes also. I'm curious as to where this will lead. I wonder how many novels have been written without a framework. It gives a feeling of unexpected and unpredictable scenarios.

Would recommend that you go back and fix a few sentences and grammar to make it flow better. Also not sure if loroi would use the same phrases as we do. But other than that, I like it. And it is your story. Let it flow!