Psybolt Posted June 16, 2020 Report Share Posted June 16, 2020 How far behind am I? I've lost track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted June 16, 2020 Report Share Posted June 16, 2020 You are two episode elements behind ! cue dramatic chord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 16, 2020 Report Share Posted June 16, 2020 Episode element: There's a nearly off-limits hospital world on the fringe of the space generally controlled by whatever political entity oversees the part of the Galaxy where humans live. The world is called Quarantine, and its surface has several hundred scattered largish islands (the size of Puerto Rico, roughly), each of which is an isolation ward for different medical or psychological conditions. Travel to the planet is restricted, and travel between islands on the planet is strictly prohibited. Our vessel is directed to the planet after fragmented communications suggesting irregularities in its administration; the planet's director has harnessed the abilities of several psychopathic geniuses and seems to be developing a slow-acting plague making people susceptible to psionic domination without being obviously insane. The terrifying megalomaniac who has come to dominate Quarantine and seeks to dominate the Galaxy is ... Nurse Ratched. Sociotard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Episode Element: Hermit is discovered to be Saint Walker who teaches Luke the ways of the Force (aka Blue Jedi-Lanterns). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psybolt Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Episode Element: Zorg sends a new captain to try to take over ship: Captain Jack Sparrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psybolt Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Episode Element: Coming to see his brother (Grandmaster)... Taneleer Tivan, The Collector Old Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psybolt Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 I think I am caught up to today with the following pick... Episode Element: The Reavers (Firefly) Old Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Part 1 “Probability decreasing...343 to 1...216 to 1...125 to 1...64 to 1...27 to 1...8 to 1...1 to 1. Normality restored.” After a moment he added, “Wretched, isn’t it?” “Very good, Marvin, the captain answered. Commander, can you verify our location?” Ivanova checked her instruments. “As best I can tell we're exactly where we should be.” “All right,” the captain said. “Dr Lazarus, you may begin your scans.” “Wait a minute,” Commander Ivanova interrupted. “This can't be right. Doctor, Marvin, check the instruments.” “What's the problem?” Lazarus asked. “These readings aren't physically possible,” Ivanova retorted. “There must be something wrong with our instruments.” “There's no problem with the instruments,” Marvin reported. “Believe me, I've checked them nine hundred and twenty-seven times in the last two seconds. There's little else for me to do.” “Marvin is right,” Dr. Lazarus confirmed. “The instruments are working just fine.” “But these readings….” “I know,” Lazarus responded. “None of these readings is possible in normal space. But we're in Tormented Space. Due to the electrostatic anomalies, the laws of nature that we understand don't work the same here. If we can deduce some pattern behind the apparent aberrations, there are a number of planets in this area that might be viable colonization sites.” “Well, you're the scientist,” she said. “Let me know what you find.” She looked over her own readings again, trying desperately to fight off the headache she felt coming on. Then something unexpected caught her attention. “Captain,” she said, “I'm reading a ship 500,000 clicks out. It's a big one. It doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen.” “Try hailing her,” the captain commanded. But before Ivanova could do so, a message from the ship came to them. The image of a humanoid male with dark hair in a black uniform greeted them. “Attention unauthorized ship,” the message stated. “You are trespassing in Peacekeeper controlled space. Surrender and prepare to be boarded.” “Captain,” Ivanova said, “if I'm reading this right, they're powering up weapons.” “I concur,” said Dr. Lazarus. The captain took the comms. “Peacekeeper vessel,” he said, “we are peaceful explorers and have no desire for conflict. Please power down your weapons, and we will leave the vicinity.” “He's not buying it,” Ivanova said. “They’re moving into attack position...and firing!” “Evasive maneuvers, Asuka!” the captain called out. “Shields to full, power up weapons. Commander, I want all Vipers prepared for launch 30 seconds ago.” “On it,” Ivanova responded. “All Viper pilots report to launch bays. This is not a drill. Move it, people!” But before the commander could leave the bridge the ship shuttered as if from some huge impact. People stumbled and staggered across the bridge as the ship lurched violently to one side. “Captain,” Dr. Lazarus said, “we have a problem.” “I'd say we have a problem,” the captain said. “What did they hit us with?” “It wasn't them,” Lazarus replied. “We've been caught near the event horizon of a wormhole that wasn't there a few seconds ago.” “Prep the infinite improbability drive,” the captain called out. “Helm, sublight engines to full. Get us out of here.” “It's not working,” the young helm officer reported. “Even at maximum sublight power, we can't escape the wormhole.” Lazarus chimed in. “Captain, I advise that we head directly into the wormhole. It's the only chance we have to survive this.” “I’ll take that under advisement,” the captain responded. “What about the improbability drive? Or the stones?” “Programming the improbability drive will take some time, as we are dealing with a number of previously unencountered conditions. I have a very bad feeling about our chances,” Marvin lamented. “You keep telling us you've got a brain the size of a planet,” Ivanova snapped. “Figure it out!” “Perhaps the Space Stone could help? Or maybe the Reality Stone?” “I don't know, Captain,” Lazarus said. “It's impossible to predict what effect they might have if used in conjunction with the improbability drive.” “The Peacekeeper ship continues to fire at us,” Ivanova said. “It looks like they're caught in this thing with us. With out luck, they probably blame us for it.” “In any case, we have to do something now, because we're starting to lose structural integrity,” Lazarus shouted. “Marvin,” the captain stated coolly, “activate the infinite improbability drive.” And in a flash of incandescent light and cacophonous noise, they were no longer there. Logan D. Hurricanes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Story element #1: Location - Tormented Space Story element #2: A Peacekeeper command carrier Story element #3: Crichton's wormhole weapon (the second iteration, specifically) Old Man 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 Excerpt from the court-martial of Captain Creideiki: "The orders you issued under those circumstances, while not directly opposing the standing orders of the Force, definitely run counter to a number of traditions," said Commander Rabb, chief of the prosecution team. "Yessss, that is ssssso." "Excerpts from your log and the logs of your officers indicate you were certainly considering general insubordination." The dolphin considered. "Yessss, I cc-can see how a land-dweller would cc-come to that conclusion, if they chossssse to ignore the traditions of dolphins going back to the Terra Insula era. How dolphins deal with the distant sounds of a pod of orcas is quite outside human experience." "That hardly seems germane to the case at hand, Captain. I don't see that you have a leg to stand on there." "For the first time in these proceedings, C-commander, I must-st say, I am in full agreement with the literal meaning of your last sentence." EDIT: I realized I didn't make it obvious: there is an episode (or pair of episodes) in which the ship is sent to the fringe of contested space (because only the Infinite Improbability Drive can reach the location in a timely way) to thwart an incursion by a "hostile squadron", which turns out to be a trio of warships of unknown origin but seem to have weapons systems on each ship which are superior to the that on our ship. They have already attacked and destroyed an uncrewed survey vessel and did not respond to "universal" signals for truce and lack of hostile intent. Deducing their capabilities is part of our ship's mission, as is preventing them from finding the survey vessel's backtrail and directing them toward the core of inhabited space. Creideiki avoids direct confrontation and in a week-long operation draws them off the vector toward inhabited space by a series of feints and apparently headlong flight, and luring them into a region of space with known inimical conditions: a triple system of neutron stars, with simultaneous mass transfer among all three elements in the system; the radiation environment changes drastically on timescales of an hour or so as relativistic beamed electron-positron plasma is refracted by the rapidly precessing intense magnetic fields of the young, hot collapsars. (Creideiki had been a lieutenant in the survey vessel that studied the system after another uncrewed surveyor was destroyed there, so he had direct experience with the astrophysical hazards.) One of the hostile ships is destroyed after being lured into the wrong spot at the wrong time, and a second ship survives another such set-up but clearly takes significant damage. The remnants regroup, spend a three days in apparent salvage, repairs, and crew reapportionment, and then withdraw in the direction of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Our ship gathers wreckage after their departure and returns to home space. However, Creideiki played fast and loose with standing "second contact" orders, and risked his ship in lethally hazardous space several times, though never in direct armed confrontation with the foreign ships. In fact, neither side employs any weapons in the maneuvering, which means that nothing is learned directly about the armament of the strange vessels. A court martial is initiated by an admiral who believes that starships are strictly the province of bipeds, and further that dolphins make clever pilots but are inherently unsuited for command. The trial takes place in the second episode, as scenes experienced by crew members of several different species are played in excerpts during the trial. So: Episode element: Captain Creideiki is court-martialed. Sociotard, Pariah and Logan D. Hurricanes 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted June 17, 2020 Report Share Posted June 17, 2020 On 6/15/2020 at 6:25 PM, death tribble said: There is another alien on the planet. Guess Who ! This has been missed. It is an Episode Element and is based on the work of H R Giger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 19, 2020 Report Share Posted June 19, 2020 Everything goes to s**t in the end... When you're out of ideas, go for potty humor. Episode element: something goes wonky in the food synthesizers. Everyone on board has the runs for 36 hours, and sanitation facilities are overwhelmed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted June 20, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2020 I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. My wife took me on a surprise trip to Yellowstone. I'll get it all updated Monday. Pariah and Cancer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted June 20, 2020 Report Share Posted June 20, 2020 On 6/17/2020 at 12:34 PM, Bazza said: Episode Element: Hermit is discovered to be Saint Walker who teaches Luke the ways of the Force (aka Blue Jedi-Lanterns). Episode Elements for Thursday & Friday (previous two days) Jawas led by Gollum the Great use The Lars in a ritual. (Reason they were killed and burned) Shuma-Gorath is summoned by Jawas. Oops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted June 21, 2020 Report Share Posted June 21, 2020 My final elements. Episode Element 6: The king of the warrior clan (Ron Perlman) Episode Element 7: The queen of the trade federation (Linda Hamilton) Episode Element 8: The arbiter desperate to avoid war (Robert Guillaume) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted June 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2020 On 6/19/2020 at 8:07 AM, Cancer said: Everything goes to s**t in the end... When you're out of ideas, go for potty humor. Episode element: something goes wonky in the food synthesizers. Everyone on board has the runs for 36 hours, and sanitation facilities are overwhelmed. I think you are out of slots! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted June 21, 2020 Report Share Posted June 21, 2020 Lucky for the ships sanitation facilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 21, 2020 Report Share Posted June 21, 2020 On June 19, 2020 at 7:07 AM, Cancer said: Everything goes to s**t in the end... When you're out of ideas, go for potty humor. Episode element: something goes wonky in the food synthesizers. Everyone on board has the runs for 36 hours, and sanitation facilities are overwhelmed. 6 hours ago, Sociotard said: I think you are out of slots! 1 hour ago, Bazza said: Lucky for the ships sanitation facilities. Wow, I * finished * something before it all turned to s--t? That has to be a first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted June 21, 2020 Report Share Posted June 21, 2020 Some mad scientist you turned out to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 21, 2020 Report Share Posted June 21, 2020 Hey, every superweapon can always use another special setting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psybolt Posted June 23, 2020 Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 Two more story elements The Collector's Ship and.... Knowhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted June 23, 2020 Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 I still need to finish my story. Probably sometime in the next 48 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted June 23, 2020 Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 You’re further ahead than I am. Life’s been real interesting the past couple of weeks. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted June 23, 2020 Report Share Posted June 23, 2020 5 minutes ago, Old Man said: You’re further ahead than I am. Life’s been real interesting the past couple of weeks quarters. ftfy Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted June 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2020 Episode Element: HAL gets a Soulgig (Schlock Mercenary) Episode Element: As the ship faces increasing problems with AI ghosts, it is besieged by the Cult Mechanicus Episode Element: Dr. Strange realizes that HAL wasn't all wrong, trying to create an afterlife as a solution to the AI ghosts, but an afterlife needs a god. With his help, Zotah Zahn merges with HAL to create one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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