[Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror (Completed)

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Grayhome
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Grayhome »

I think that this conversation has been done to death already, can people now just let it go?
Considering how everyone has their own strong convictions regarding the matter in question, it is better to just leave it be.
Fine by me.

Namaphry
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Namaphry »

There's not much use to continuing the discussion when there's no response I can make to Grayhome except several variations on 'you're complaining about how I described things that I never described'. So, yes, forgetting everything since the yelly boldface thing.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Chapter 8, part 3

“This is certainly an impressive array of abilities.” Commander Summers said with a steady voice despite the clear expression of shock that Shadowcloud could see on his face. “Do all Loroi diplomats have such… potent telekinetic abilities?”

“No, quite the contrary, the vast majority of the Mizol caste which is tasked with the diplomatic and intelligence affairs of the Loroi Union are either non telekinetics or too weak to pose a physical threat. Telekinetics such as myself are rare among my caste and are sent to negotiate only with species that are known for their physical strength and temperamental instability.” She replied truthfully while pondering if the human was hiding something. From the moment she saw him it felt like he was uncomfortable about something; perhaps she would be able to have him tell something that he didn’t want to, if this conversation went on for long enough.

“Physical strength and temperamental instability?” Commander Summers asked.

“Yes, there are some species that are physically imposing and aggressive. Two member species of the Union, the Delrias and the Barsam fill this category. Both are known for their overwhelming physical strength and the natural temper. The Barsam to a lesser degree now with their pacifist and religious ways but the Delrias are troublesome to work with. They are carnivorous with a well known tendency for inter personal violence and aggression. Having strong telekinetics at hand to restrain them is standard procedure when conversing with their appointed delegates. Of course most of their delegates have been carefully selected but sometimes some of them can be troublesome. Personally I have been sent to delegate mostly with Delrias and a couple of Barsams who were know for their temperament.”

“How strong are these two species that would warrant such… precautions?” Commander Summers asked full of curiosity.

“Strong, the Delrias are almost 3 mannals tall and with a strength to match while the Barsam three and a half mannals tall and far stronger than the Delrias. If I was to compare them with Lieutenant Allerberger I would say that the Delrias are slightly more massive than him and the Barsam are twice as massive as he is.”

“They sound dangerous.” Lieutenant Allerberger commented as he and Commander Summers looked at each other in shocked disbelief.

“They are.”

“We appreciate you telling us about your…abilities.” Commander Summers begun after some thought. Obviously trying to find a way to say what he wanted to say as diplomatically as possible. “If I understand them correctly, these abilities are as much part of you as your hands and legs are.”

“That’s the way it is, we can’t shut them off or disable them in any way other than knocking the user unconscious.” The human’s expression peaked her interest into what he was about to say.

“I understand. However it has to be said that future diplomatic contacts between our governments will run far smoother if your representatives and their honor guard are not perceived as threats due to their potent telekinetic abilities.” The way he put it was genuinely surprising.

“That is understandable and I will make sure that my colleagues are properly briefed when I come in contact with them.”

“And I will inform my superiors that the subject has been raised by us and that you have understood our concerns.”

“Of course.” It was obvious that their diplomats would have reservations of conversing with someone who could kill them with telekinesis, all of the aliens had these reservations and in fact the same was true with the Loroi themselves. They didn’t demand that telekinetics be barred from negotiations, which is what will be formally agreed on when negotiations on a higher level will begin, something that always happened, but they politely informed the representatives of the Union they had in front of them about it and now it was up to the Union to respect this wish and show goodwill towards them or to ignore it and show something else entirely. It left the weight of goodwill on the matter completely on the Loroi side and she couldn’t find this anything but impressive.

“With what you said in mind, would it put your mind at ease if I took off my amplifier?” She asked knowing full well that they would more than appreciate it now that they knew what it was.

“It would certainly help.” Commander Summers replied and all of the humans visibly relaxed as she did so. Normally she wouldn’t even wear it in such a meeting but there were still too many unknowns about these humans and she wanted to see how they would react when they would learn what it was and how they would try to convince her to take it off. She was prepared to take it off as a gesture of goodwill depending on how they would go about it but now she saw no reason to play that game since they demonstrated reasonable diplomatic decorum and if she read them well enough the per-emptive gesture would help open them up a little.

“Thunderspear, I need you to hold my amplifier until this meeting is over.” She sent to Thunderspear who stood guard outside with Longblade.

“What? Why? Why not Longblade?” The Teidar replied.

“Because she didn’t forget to keep hers with her at all times!”

“But she is the young one, those like her are the ones who flay the miros.” Thunderspear protested.

“I am sure that you holding my amplifier for some time will help you remember yours in the future.”

“Fine.” With that Thunderspear opened the door, drawing questioning looks from the humans as she walked up to Shadowcloud who gave her the amplifier to hold.

“How goes the treatment of Soroin Torret Darkwing?” Shadowcloud sent to Doranzer Needle as Thunderspear walked out of the room.

“It goes well, her regeneration is almost complete and we will start the post op physical examination soon.” The Doranzer replied.

“Good, inform me when she is ready.” Shadowcloud replied and barely held back a smile as she sensed Longblade’s amusement.

“The captain of the ship is still being treated, until she is ready I would like for us to ask and answer each other any questions we may have.” Shadowcloud said and all of the humans visibly perked up at that.

“Of course but you must understand that we are not authorized to divulge sensitive information. I imagine that the same applies to you as well.” Commander Summers replied.

“I understand, I only wish for us to better understand each other.” Shadowcloud replied and thought of what to ask first. “In your greeting you said that you represent the Terran Colonial Authority on behalf of the six worlds of humanity. Does this authority represent the entirety of humanity?”

“Yes, the TCA represents all human nations with space faring capabilities while the overwhelming majority of the remaining nations are either affiliates or observers. The TCA is also the sole organization allowed to field military spacecraft that are capable of faster than light travel.” Commander Summers replied with what felt like a stock response.

“That will certainly prove advantageous to you in any future negotiations.” Shadowcloud commented and the human nodded in response.

“The Orgus refugees have informed us that your form of governance is Imperial, is this correct?” He asked in return.

“Partially, we do have an Emperor and we sometimes refer to the Union as an Empire but that’s not an accurate way of describing our government. The Emperor is elected by the members of the Diadem which is a council made up by the highest ranking members of the Torrai caste, our leadership caste that is made up from those warriors who have proven themselves capable to rise above their own castes. The Emperor is primarily a military leader who has a wide range of powers at her disposal. Most of the lawmaking regarding the day to day workings of the Union falls into the jurisdiction of the representative Assembly in which all species that are members of the Union are represented one way or the other. In times of peace the Assembly guides and the Emperor executes, in times of war the Emperor leads and the Assemble obeys.” Shadowcloud replied, knowing full well that this was not the full picture and that some uncomfortable details were hidden.

“That is far more benign than what we were lead to believe.” Commander Summers replied.

“We know that Umiak propaganda is far reaching and that it is able to easily sway those who have never come in contact with us.” Shadowcloud commented as she thought about what to ask next. She already got what she needed to know about their organization and knew that since it represented all of their space faring nations and was their sole military arm then it was obvious that designated representatives of this authority would be able to legally bound humanity into a treaty. “I would like to know about your mission and what your objectives are.”

“We were informed by the Orgus refugees of the war between the Loroi Union and the Umiak Hierarchy as well as the fact that both sides refused to recognize the right of neutrality for other races. Our leaders wished to find out more about the two combatants and their outlook towards humanity in order to make a well informed decision on the matter since neutrality is not an option.” Commander Summers replied with another stock like response.

“That is… prudent of your leadership.” She felt Sulfur next to her tense at that.

“This isn’t their war Listel; neither we or the Shells would even know about them until the war would reach their territory.”

“I understand.” The Listel sent in return even if she didn’t like it. She knew that the young ones tended to see things in black and white instead of the grey they are so she let the Listel’s apprehension go for the time being.

“I am glad that you understand…” Commander Summers paused in thought for a few moments before asking his next question. “I would like to know more about your rank and position , Mizol Torimor Shadowcloud.”

“I am a Mizol, which is the Sentinel warrior caste and we are primarily focused on diplomacy and intelligence gathering, both internal and external. Torimor is the highest rank within the Mizol caste and literally translates to ambassador; however those with this rank cover a wide range of activities and have many responsibilities. I am primarily an intelligence officer and it has been some time since I took part in official negotiations.”

“I understand.” Commander Summers replied while nodding.

“Some say that the diplomatic corp being also the intelligence corp is a sign of inherent dishonesty.” Shadowcloud added at that.

“It is widely known that human diplomats work in a similar way. Covert information gathering by diplomats is tolerated up to a degree. This tolerance helps build up trust between nations since hiding everything brings forth in depth scrutiny by everyone who might want to find out what the other side is trying to hide so hard.” Commander Summers replied.

“I imagine that there are some boundaries that are respected.” Shadowcloud commented.

“Of course, some secrets need to be kept even from one’s closest allies and certain logical boundaries need to be respected and abided by for continuous good relations and cooperation.”

“That’s a pragmatic way of doing things and one that my caste can relate to and respect.” Which was true as far as the Mizol were concerned. If that was the way the humans played their games then the Mizol shouldn’t have much trouble dealing with them even when taking their Lotai into consideration. “I have noticed the difference between your uniforms and the uniform worn by Lieutenant Allerberger. Is there a special meaning in these differences? Like a different caste or warrior branch?”

“We belong to different branches of the TCA military and our uniforms are designed to show that.” Commander Summers begun full of pride. “I and my team belong to the Scout corps, a tight knit and elite branch of the TCA, tasked with space exploration, cartography and first contact with alien civilizations in case we run into one when exploring. Although we are considered a military outfit we see ourselves as the inheritors of the pioneering spirit human explorers have shown throughout our history. Our uniforms are blue in order to honor the sea explorers of antiquity and to remind everyone that we follow their footsteps with the only difference being that our sea is the infinity of space. The patches on our uniforms are a tradition held from the first space explorers centuries ago while the golden stripes and turtleneck are a constant reminder of the high standards that we are expected to abide by.”

“That is an excellent abstract way to present your status.” Shadowcloud commented.

“The other branches of the TCA see things differently.” Commander Summers said as he nodded to Lieutenant Allerberger.

“That’s one way for the boy scouts to say that they consider themselves higher than the others for no reason at all.” Lieutenant Allerberger commented and Shadowcloud couldn’t help but smile at that, it was good to see some understandable rivalry between two different warrior branches. “The TCA marines serve as the ground and ship borne martial arm of the TCA. Our uniform represents the conflicting duality of our mission. Pure white for our legs to show the noble intention of maintaining the peace in space and black for our body for the perils that exist in the infinity of space and the struggles that are necessary in order for peace to be maintained. The trident is our badge, a reminder of our roots to the naval marines of old.” Lieutenant Allerberger then patted the single star at the top of his left shoulder with his right hand. “This is my rank insignia and these...” He patted the numerous ribbons that decorated his chest. “These are my award ribbons that commemorate my military career.”

“I guess that each has a special meaning?”

“Yes they have. Ribbons have to be placed in a predefined order of precedence based on the tier and importance of each given award. The lowest tier of awards are for showing excellence in training.” Lieutenant Allerberger pointed at some of the ribbons at the two bottom rows, five ribbons in total. “The next tier is for participation in military campaigns.” He said as he touched the next four ribbons. “Which are followed by unit awards” He pointed the next three ribbons. “Which are then followed by personal combat awards.” He finished as he pointed the last three of his awards.

“I see that you didn’t have a peaceful career.” Shadowcloud commented.

“Humanity is a… rowdy species.” Lieutenant Allerberger replied.

“I see… I take it that the Scout corps has a different tradition with its awards?” She asked Commander Summers.

“That’s accurate. Due to the nature of our mission the vast majority of our awards are unit awards and as such only the Captain of each vessel is allowed to wear award ribbons on most occasions. We also don’t wear our rank insignia for traditional reasons.”

“Mizol Torimor Shadowcloud. Soroin Torret Darkwing has been fully healed without any issues and she is on her way.”
Doranzer Needle sent to her.

“How is her mind?”

“She is… angry.”


“Understood.” Spreading her mind a little she kept her attention to Darkwing as she walked towards the small conference room, quickly realizing that she didn’t have much time before she got there.

“I have just been informed that the commander of this vessel is on her way. Do you have any last questions?” Shadowcloud said to the humans.

“Yes.” Commander Summers replied. “It’s obvious to us that your armors hold a special cultural meaning. Do you always wear them?”

“Not always but most of the time. Our armors are proof of our status as warriors and the caste which we belong. We have to wear them when on duty and in public but we can take them off when we are relaxing among friends and fellow caste mates.” She replied.

“That’s different from the way we do things. We only wear armors when on duty and only for specific tasks. Wearing them in any other situation would be seen as expecting trouble or looking to cause it.” Lieutenant Allerberger commented.

“That is understandable but as you said our armors are very important to us and we don’t like to part with them.” She said with a forced steady voice.

“We were just curious about them from a cultural point of view.” Commander Summers added hastily. “Do the colors of your armor represent something in particular or have some sort of meaning?”

“Unlike your uniforms our armors don’t show anything personal about us beyond our caste and rank. But as anyone can guess each caste has a special meaning behind their chosen colors. The colors of my caste, the Mizol, represent Perrein, the planet from which the caste originated. Perrein is a lush jungle world with trees tall and thick enough that can completely block off the sun for those beneath them. The green plates represent the trees and the gray ones represent the shadow world beneath them where the Perrein Loroi live their lives. A constant reminder of where we come from and what type of conflict we specialize in.”

Shadowcloud sensed that Darkwing had almost reached them, the Soroin’s anger so palpable that she couldn’t hold back a sigh. She reassured herself with the thought that she could work with an angry Soroin far better than with a mentally broken one.

Chapter 9, part 1: http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 455#p19455
Last edited by Guest on Sat Feb 17, 2018 9:41 pm, edited 7 times in total.

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dragoongfa
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

With chapter 8 finished I have also passed the 50% mark of the story. It feels refreshing to know that what is left to write is less than what I have already written.

Still, it was a long one chapter, perhaps the longest of the story.

Also, I have to say that Razor One was right :P.

Sweforce
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Sweforce »

I got it that Shadowcloud was severely wounded, missing LIMBS just shortly before the meeting. That was a fast recovery. Unless she haven't been able to grow new limbs in an hour or so and was just treated for her burnwounds. Lost limbs in an earlier engagement and now using advanced prosthetics maybe? Or maybe the loroi have less problem with rejection of transplanted organs and that she got new limbs harvested from dead crew members, could look a bit odd if her body have mismatching skin colors. There is also the possibility that she are still missing limbs but are rolled in in a wheelchair or the tech level 11 equivalent thereof. The next installment should clear this up.

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dragoongfa
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Sweforce wrote:I got it that Darkwing was severely wounded, missing LIMBS just shortly before the meeting. That was a fast recovery. Unless she haven't been able to grow new limbs in an hour or so and was just treated for her burnwounds. Lost limbs in an earlier engagement and now using advanced prosthetics maybe? Or maybe the loroi have less problem with rejection of transplanted organs and that she got new limbs harvested from dead crew members, could look a bit odd if her body have mismatching skin colors. There is also the possibility that she are still missing limbs but are rolled in in a wheelchair or the tech level 11 equivalent thereof. The next installment should clear this up.
Fixed :P

According to Arioch the Loroi have the tech to regenerate limbs. There are some minor problems with the tech as I have implemented it, mostly psychological with having a limb missing for too long and the mind having difficulty learning to use the 'new' limbs as well as the old ones. If someone didn't get a new limb in a quick manner there could be issues with using them that would have to be fixed using mental techniques. Rejection is out of the picture because the limb itself is regenerated by tricking the body in doing so as if it was still in its mother's womb and all of this in a very quick manner; it is the same tissue as far as the immune system is concerned.

The only physical limitation with the tech itself is 'feeding' the quickly growing cells so the grown tissue won't be stunted and near death due to starvation. Human regenerative research has universally failed to get that far, all of the regenerated tissues that humans have produced were plagued with cancer, the Loroi tech has circumvented this somehow.

The regenerated tissue of the human marine didn't need to be 'fed' and the whole process was over quickly. Someone who had missing limbs and extensive burns is a totally other matter in how complex and energy consuming the procedure is.

Sweforce
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Sweforce »

I was mostly surprised about how FAST she grew new limbs, not that it could be done. A possibility thou if this seem to be TO fast. It is possible that the loroi as a "constructed" species indeed have little to no rejection problems and if so, several replacement limbs could already be pregrown, once type fits all. If that option is used one could still have the humors effect with color mismatch, saw that in a sci fi novel years ago where the protagonist (black) got a new arm white arm attached. He was not pleased. Another possibility is that I truncated my understanding of the pass of time in the story, it felt like we got the wounded captain describes just briefly before the meeting. Maybe several hours passed and thus there was time to grow new limbs.

And thanks for the "fix" :P

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dragoongfa
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Sweforce wrote:I was mostly surprised about how FAST she grew new limbs, not that it could be done. A possibility thou if this seem to be TO fast. It is possible that the loroi as a "constructed" species indeed have little to no rejection problems and if so, several replacement limbs could already be pregrown, once type fits all. If that option is used one could still have the humors effect with color mismatch, saw that in a sci fi novel years ago where the protagonist (black) got a new arm white arm attached. He was not pleased. Another possibility is that I truncated my understanding of the pass of time in the story, it felt like we got the wounded captain describes just briefly before the meeting. Maybe several hours passed and thus there was time to grow new limbs.

And thanks for the "fix" :P
The time that passed between the 1st and 2nd part of chapter 8 is a little more than 2 hours. The humans informed the Loroi about wanting a direct meeting to negotiate 'aid' right after the end of chapter 7. The crew of Matveyev used that time to begin disassembling the movable emergency generator and for briefing the ones selected to be part of the away team for the negotiation. I think that two hours are a reasonable amount of time for a medical procedure that is mostly automated.

Argron
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Argron »

Interesting, let's hope the commander doesn't mess things up lol

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Zakharra »

I can't see how she will help, especially if she believes the humans to still be a trick of the Shells. As it is, it looks like she is not thinking clearly and will be unduly hostile and antagonistic.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Chapter 9, part 1

The door opened to reveal another Loroi female, this one wearing a green and silver plated armor. She looked young just like the others which made things confusing since according to the data they had been given the Loroi lived for centuries without any outwards signs of aging. Although the same applied to humans who were lucky enough to have their longevity treatments stick well, it didn’t make accepting the fact any easier. Out of all they had seen so far only Torimor Shadowcloud was clearly older, not because of any easy to notice signs but because, according to the data again; old Loroi had longer ears than their younger counterparts and her ears were certainly longer than anyone else’s in the room. What was odd about the new arrival, beyond her cleanly shaved head, was the fact that large parts of her face and her left hand had a slightly different tan than everything else they could see on her.

“Commander Summers, allow me to introduce the captain of this vessel, Soroin Torret Remiritenza. Her spoken name means Darkwing…” Torimor Shadowcloud said before turning to look intensely at Captain Darkwing before speaking again. “She asks about the meaning of your name.”

“My name means bright summer if I remember correctly.” He replied.

“That doesn’t sound like a warrior’s name.” Captain Darkwing commented as she walked towards the empty seat at the Loroi side of the table, glaring angrily at Torimor Shadowcloud as she did so. In fact both Loroi seemed ready to pounce at each other while the third; Listel Sininran Sulfur, seemed extremely uncomfortable. It was obvious that captain Darkwing was angry for some reason but the way she and Shadowcloud looked at each other, made him wonder if it was about them being there or if there was something personal between them. For the moment he thought it best to remain neutral and see how things would unfold.

“We humans don’t care much about the meaning of our given names; although there are uncomfortable combinations of personal and family names, combinations that can be too much to ignore.” He commented, intentionally playing the fool instead of taking offense at the Loroi’s comment.

“Many of us can relate to that.” Torimor Shadowcloud commented. “Now that all of us are present I would like to start this meeting by recognizing you, your team and the crew of your vessel as diplomatic representatives of humanity, tasked with establishing diplomatic contact between humanity and the Loroi Union. Formal and binding negotiations will be conducted by specially appointed and plenipotentiary representatives at a later time.” As she said that captain Darkwing turned and glared angrily at Shadowcloud who returned the gesture almost immediately before turning back at them to continue. “Before discussing your offer however, we will have to address the unfortunate incident earlier.” With that Commander Summers turned at Lieutenant Allerberger and just nodded for him to say what they had agreed upon.

“Considering the situation, the steps taken by both parties to defuse it and the quick treatment of private Gomez by your medic; I and my team consider the issue closed and don’t wish for it to cause any hindrances for this meeting and any future negotiations.”

“I and the crew of Silverspear are appreciative of your magnanimous sentiment. To bring this matter to a close from our end, I want to inform you that the crew member who attacked your subordinate acted on her own accord while disobeying a direct order from her superior officer and will be punished accordingly.” Torimor Shadowcloud replied and captain Darkwing’s expression immediately turned sour and glared at Shadowcloud before looking straight at Lieutenant Allerberger.

“Tell me… Lieutenant Allerberger, what is the human punishment for a warrior who disobeys a direct order during wartime?” Captain Darkwing asked with a voice that dripped acid and Lieutenant Allerberger immediately looked at commander Summers who wondered what the Loroi captain was getting at before nodding for the marine to reply.

“The letter of the law dictates death by firing squad after found guilty in a court-martial.” Torimor Shadowcloud looked furious as she glared at Captain Darkwing with an intensity that could easily pierce warship armor.

“I see… then would such a punishment be given to the warrior who attacked one of yours by your laws?” Captain Darkwing said with a grim smile.

“I am not a judge but I am certain that such a punishment wouldn’t be given in such a situation.” The marine replied immediately.

“It wouldn’t? Why?” The Loroi captain seemed genuinely surprised at that.

“The court would take into account the stressful situation, the condition of the ship and the unknown nature of the ones who boarded a military vessel. Her actions would be seen as understandable with these conditions in mind and accounting for the fact that her victim doesn’t wish for such a heavy punishment after being fully healed by her comrades then the court would give clemency and condemn the warrior in question to a lighter sentence. This punishment would be either incarceration or a reprimand depending on the assailant’s remorse and past service record.” Lieutenant Allerberger replied.

“Do you show the same kind of leniency to cowards as well?” Captain Darkwing asked as she and Shadowcloud stared at each other again.

“Cowardice in the face of the enemy warrants a summary execution on the spot without the need of a court-martial.” For some reason captain Darkwing smiled when she heard that.

“Thank you lieutenant Allerberger; that was informative and will be taken into account.” Torimor Shadowcloud said before turning her attention to commander Summers.” Now commander Summers, what kind of trade do you wish to propose?”

“As you have already been informed, our ship is equipped with an emergency generator which is designed to be easily disassembled and reassembled in order to be used off ship in case of an emergency. We had already begun disassembling it before we got here and by now it should be loaded and waiting on our shuttle back on our ship. Our offer involves us giving you this generator with enough fuel to last for a while and informing your government about your predicament in order for them to rescue you. In order to do so we are willing to take some of your people as passengers so your government has an easier time believing us.” Commander Summers replied and captain Darkwing frowned as she heard that.

“And what do you wish in return for all this?” Shadowcloud asked.

“In return we would like to examine your regenerative medical device, have the principles behind its operation explained to us and a copy of its software suite.” All three Loroi seemed surprised at that, Shadowcloud even smiled slightly as captain Darkwing seemed genuinely confused.

“Why do you ask for it?” The Loroi captain asked before Shadowcloud could say anything.

“As I said, this generator is designed to be used in emergencies, emergencies where ships or space stations have been left without power to sustain their life support; its sole purpose is to save lives on our ship or any other ship that may need aid. As a gesture of friendship we believe that it should be exchanged with something that will help save human lives and the lives of our present and future friends.” He recited and couldn’t help but remember how he, captain Asteios and the rest of the bridge crew worked on it for a solid twenty minutes.

“That’s a noble way of thinking.” Torimor Shadowcloud commented before she and captain Darkwing glared at each other again. The more he observed these glaring exchanges the more he wished for some clues as to what was being telepathically said. It was obvious that this wasn’t a good cop, bad cop scenario; captain Darkwing seemed to genuinely hold some animosity towards them but the way they both carried themselves felt like there really was some underlying personal hostility between the two of them.

“I am pleased to inform you that there won’t be a need for you to go out of your way to contact the Union about our predicament although your aid may be needed.” Shadowcloud said when her glaring contest with captain Darkwing ended, inconclusively judging by Darkwing’s expression. “We have the capability to contact the Union ourselves and the only thing we lack is a power source strong enough to power the necessary equipment. May we see the specs of this generator so we can see if it is enough on its own?”

“Of course, Lieutenant Litteauer?" With that the engineer stood up, took out his tablet and after he accessed the necessary data he gave it to Torimor Shadowcloud who glanced at it before giving it to Listel Sininran Sulfur to study.”

“Sir…” Lieutenant Vinica whispered at him as she listened something in her ear piece. “Matveyev reports that the scans of all the marines have been completed and there is nothing out of the ordinary when comparing them with their previous medical scans.”

“Do you want to see those scans doctor?” He asked lieutenant commander Jacobson who sat next to him.

“No need, my aide knows his job well enough.”

“Commander Summers, it looks like your generator will be sufficient in powering up our equipment and we believe that what you ask for is acceptable. The only thing that we may ask from you in addition to it, is for you to host a small number of our crew for the limited amount of time that the necessary equipment will be running, solely for their own well being.” Shadowcloud said after a few moments.

“I take it that this equipment may be telepathic in nature?” He commented.

“It is and it entails a very powerful sending. Normally such a sending is done from secluded locations on planets or from specifically prepared ships whose crew is carefully selected and equipped to weather the experience. We should be able to load all of our crew in our two shuttles, it will be uncomfortable but doable. In case however that there are some issues with one of them then we may need your help in hosting a small part of our crew in a safe distance from this ship until the sending is finished.” Shadowcloud replied.

“That is understandable and if the need arises we will provide all the aid we can give.”

“I am glad to hear this. With this understanding in mind we hereby accept your proposal.” Torimor Shadowcloud said although captain Darkwing still seemed unhappy about something.

“In this case, please sign this.” Commander Summers said as Lieutenant Vinica took out a slightly larger tablet computer from the briefcase she had with her and offered it and a stylus to Shadowcloud, after making some minor adjustments to it.

“Sign it?” Shadowcloud asked as she looked at the tablet in front of her.

“Although we are not authorized to offer a binding diplomatic agreement, we have to have a signed contract for this trade solely for bureaucratic purposes.” He replied, thinking that the paper pushing would serve the extra purpose of proving that this exchange happened in good faith, something that would be useful in future negotiations.

“I see…” Torimor Shadowcloud replied as she begun reading the outlined contract. “From the way this is phrased this includes recognition of each others diplomatic status, while also covering the terms of this trade and the acknowledgement that this is a gesture of friendship by the Terran Colonial Authority towards the Loroi Union.”

“Do you really think that friendship between Humaniti and the Loroi can exist?” Captain Darkwing asked with an accusatory tone, obviously having heard enough and snapping for some reason.

“Yes.”

“We know that aliens lie and deceive with their words. They all know that we can realize this instantly and yet they still do it, always devising new cheap tricks in order to deceive us and hide their lies. You humans, we can’t sense you but I know that you are still deceiving aliens.” Captain Darkwing ranted while Shadowcloud looked ready to tear her captain’s head off, something that she could do if she was as strong as she said she was.

“That is…understandable.” Commander Summers replied with a forced steady voice. “You are telepaths, you can sense each others thoughts as well as the thoughts of aliens. We understand that we cannot be sensed and that this makes you uneasy, especially with our physical similarities in mind. I have to say though that we humans have a saying ‘Actions speak louder than words’ which teaches that no matter how well one speaks, in the end only those who act make a difference. We do not ask of you to not be on guard with us, what we ask is for you to judge us with what really matters in mind, not by our words, not by our… Lotai but by our actions. As for friendship, beyond the obvious reasons which would incline many humans to wish to be in friendly terms with the Loroi Union, there is also your telepathy to consider. Humans were always fascinated with the concept of telepathy, which we thought to be mere fantasy up until recently. It may surprise you but many humans will find our immunity to it regretful.”

“Regretful? Many aliens would go at any length to acquire your Lotai!” Captain Darkwing said in disbelief.

“And many humans have always dreamed for someone to look into our minds and answer a few questions we have about ourselves.” Torimor Shadowcloud instantly burst out in laughter at that, followed immediately by Listel Sininran Sulfur; even captain Darkwing couldn’t stop herself from laughing after a few moments.

“I apologize…” Torimor Shadowcloud said as she composed herself. “But we Loroi always felt that our telepathy is sometimes more troublesome than it is worth. In fact our warrior culture and endless feuding is directly attributed to it.”

“We humans believe differently. That if we were able to read each others thoughts we would see that we have far more in common than the differences we regularly fight over.” Commander Summers replied.

“That’s ridiculous.” Captain Darkwing commented.

“We aren’t telepaths so we don’t know what would happen but we do know our history and people have always wondered how different it would be if we were telepaths ourselves.” He replied.

“A lot bloodier than you might think.”

“With all due respect Soroin Torret Darkwing, you don’t know our history.”

Chapter 9, part 2: http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 509#p19509
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Well, a relatively uneventful first part. Who knows how long this eventfulness will last...

Anyway, in case some people haven't noticed, Greek politicians have done the stupidest thing of the last 100 years and although for the immediate short term things will be relatively normal, I don't know how quickly things may deteriorate after the coming Sunday. All I want to say is that the story will be alive and worked on even if I drop off the face of the earth temporarily.
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Argron »

Interesting chapter. Here's hoping we will see a Loroi military leader with some tact, but seeing as that the lack of it is an actual trait of their race I'm not holding my breath lol

Sucks about the problems the greek people is facing, in my country we also suffer really bad politicians (partly our fault though, people who don't ask for accountability from their politicians for partisan reasons, will be abused by them all); I hope the situation gets better for you guys.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Grayhome »

I don't think many of Greece's current troubles can be blamed upon their internal politics. From my understanding of the current situation their troubles started when the Nazi's invaded Greece and plundered everything that wasn't bolted down and on fire and worsened with the predatory nature of the international banking system.

Great chapter!

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

It takes two to tango and suffice to say that Greeks are fully aware of our failings, even if many don't want to publicly admit that because of some misguided superiority complex.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Logannion »

"Cowardice in the face of the enemy warrants a summary execution on the spot without the need of a court-martial.”
- Is that a common military rule? I thought it was just something that the Commissars of 40k do.

Well, best wishes for you and your loved ones Dragoongfa. I hope you remain physically and financially safe but I doubt the debt crisis would blow over anytime soon. Living in Melbourne and all, there's been a quite large influx of immigrants and expats over the last few months.

Great chapter.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Logannion wrote:"Cowardice in the face of the enemy warrants a summary execution on the spot without the need of a court-martial.”
- Is that a common military rule? I thought it was just something that the Commissars of 40k do.

Well, best wishes for you and your loved ones Dragoongfa. I hope you remain physically and financially safe but I doubt the debt crisis would blow over anytime soon. Living in Melbourne and all, there's been a quite large influx of immigrants and expats over the last few months.

Great chapter.
Yes, summary execution for cowardice in the face of the enemy is common on most if not all military outfits during wartime, in peacetime the punishments are universally lighter. Here is what the US military justice code says for this matter:

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/mil ... m/bl99.htm
Maximum punishment. All offenses under Article 99. Death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.
The main issue someone may have is that some people believe that summary execution is done on the spot by anyone when in fact there is a very limited due process involved. For someone to be summarily executed he must be apprehended during the act or away from their assigned post, then brought in front of the most high ranking commissioned officer present to explain himself for his conduct. Since platoons are lead on the field by a lieutenant it is common for such a process to be finished in minutes since the lieutenant is obliged to decide on the spot if the accused lives or dies depending on their explanation.

The US military tends to avoid this because frankly they usually are in command of the battlefield and can allocate resources to incarcerate those accused of cowardice in the face of the enemy, bringing them in front of a court-martial for proper judgement. On armies that cannot allocate such resources on wartime however, such summary executions will be the rule.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Chapter 9, part 2

If Lieutenant Francois Litteauer was to name one redeeming quality about the two Loroi ‘assistants’ he had to work with, that would be their good looks; the fact that they obviously could work with completely alien to them tech was completely outweighed by their know it all behavior and their rudeness in not letting him do anything, despite the fact that he knew everything for the generator they worked on by heart!

“I apologize for their seemingly rude behavior but the Gallen caste takes pride in their handling of technological matters. For them it is inconceivable to have a male work with machinery while they are standing around.” Torimor Shadowcloud said as she and Commander Summers finished their little chat they had while observing the generator’s reassembly.

“I think that things would have gone far more smoothly and quickly if they would at least let me show them what to do!” He said with obvious irritation as he bit back a curse when one of the Gallens realized a mistake she was about to make.

“That’s understandable but they believe that the manual you have provided is more than sufficient to guide them as they set the generator up. In fact they wish to comment you for it.” Shadowcloud replied.

“They shouldn’t, what I gave them is the automatic translation of the generator’s manual; just like everything else in our data that is also in Trade. I and a couple of others just went through the translation to see if the computer had made a mistake with it.” He replied as the two Gallens finally finished setting the generator itself up and were now reading on how to assemble the connection to the fuel tank.

“I see…” Shadowcloud said as she thought something. “It seems that your translation programs are very advanced, considering the clear and easy to understand result and the fact that you didn’t know Trade until two of your years ago.”

“They have to do at least that much with so many different languages we humans have, such translating programs have been worked on for almost two hundred years, which is the amount of time we have had electronic computers.” The Lieutenant chuckled at that. “That didn’t change the fact of how disastrously funny the first experimental result with the Trade language was two years ago.”

“I see…” Shadowcloud said while nodding slightly in understanding, an eerily human gesture and yet natural for all the Loroi he had seen so far. “So you had such programs for only two hundred years?”

“170 if my memory serves me correctly. The first such programs arose after our worldwide computer network became widely accessible to the public. This, more or less, happened 30 years after the first prototypes of electronic computers.” He replied gleefully, happy to have something occupying his mind after the snubbing he got by the two Gallen Loroi.

“Your species have come a long way in such a short time if you had electronic computers for only 200 years.” Shadowcloud commented.

“The Orgus refugees said something similar when they heard that.” The Loroi clearly became thoughtful for a few moments when she heard that.

“Commander Summers told me that you were part of the team that found our ship and I wanted to know how that happened exactly.” She finally said.

“Of course…” He replied as he tried to recall what happened almost a day before. “We were returning to our ship after investigating one of the derelict space stations when we were ordered to investigate some debris that was still warm. Space is a natural insulator where heat is shed slowly so we knew that the debris was recent.”

* * *

Lieutenant Allerberger’s debriefing didn’t take long, there wasn’t much to be said since Captain Asteios saw and heard everything as if he was there. Now he tried to put his thoughts in order as he sat alone in his cabin.

Things had gone better than he imagined, despite the initial incident the crew of Matveyev had managed to get more than just an ideal first contact with the Loroi. It was obvious that unless their government was totally callous with the lives of their warriors, that they would have to acknowledge good will from humanity’s side despite the telepathic issue; whose knowledge alone would carry a lot of weight for the future of mankind. The information and data of the Loroi medical device was also a bonus, hopefully researchers back on Earth would be able to make a breakthrough with what they would bring back with them; however that was a secondary concern to what was really in his mind.

Everyone on the ship knew that the real hard part was to see the real state of the war, to learn if the Loroi and Umiak were really at a stalemate as the Orgus believed or if things were not as they were led to believe. The final decision on who to ally with rested with the bigwigs back on Earth but they, the crews of the four scout ships and the diplomats on Prahbu, were the ones on the scene and whatever they brought back with them would almost certainly be what would bind humanity’s future.

They had to learn more, especially about the human immunity to sensing, their Lotai as the Loroi called it. It was obvious that it would be a major factor for their future, everyone he had talked with agreed that the Loroi would do anything to make sure that this ability would never fall on the hands of the Umiak and they had seen firsthand what the Loroi did to their enemies, the destroyed Tithric colony in the system they were in a grim reminder of the capabilities the Loroi war machine had at its disposal.

In order for Earth and her colonies not to end like that they had two options as far as everyone on the ship could see. They would offer everything and anything to the Umiak for protection or immediately ally with the Loroi without wasting any time. Both options however came with their inherent risks.

Would the Umiak send a force strong enough to repel any and all Loroi assaults? Their track record on this regard was flawed to say the least.

On the other hand would the Loroi honor such an alliance or would they stab them in the back as a precaution, stopping the human Lotai from falling on anyone’s hands while they could still do it?

He sighed as he thought that both options were short term solutions just for the duration of the war. No one could know what the picture would look like after the war’s end but they all had to make sure that humanity would still be in that picture and with a secured future.

They needed information and facts; they needed to know more about the Loroi, their telepathy and how the war is going for them. They would have to take in everything they could see and hear from the Loroi in order to form a clear picture; because without such a clear picture humanity may as well not have a future at all.

Sighing again he opened the compiled history of the war that the Loroi had sent, he knew that it would be rife with propaganda but one could get a glimpse of truth even from an obviously biased source.

* * *

“So to put it simply, you don’t directly make the original cells multiply in order to heal the wounds but you trick them into turning themselves into stem cells, which then proceed to build the body as if it was still a fetus.” Lieutenant Commander Miranda Jacobson, Matveyev’s chief medical officer, commented when Listel Sininran Sulfur finished explaining the concept behind the Loroi regenerator.

“Yes, all species have a natural growth period when they are in their fetal stage, If one tricks the cells into believing that their body is still in the fetal stage then a form of natural regeneration would take place over a period of time.” The Loroi replied.

“I remember that this was one of the approaches our researchers have been working on but their attempts always resulted in cancerous tissues, much like all other avenues they attempted.” Doctor Jacobson commented.

“That was where our early attempts stopped as well; the breakthrough came with the discovery of the Barsam, one of our allied species. They have a natural regenerative ability which is centered on their peculiar nervous system. They have what is best described as a secondary set of body encompassing nerves which exclusively regulate their regenerating ability. These nerves emit a wide range of signals that control the regeneration on the cellular level and on all its stages. Each and every cell is ordered to turn into a stem cell, to multiply and then change into new healthy tissue. One of the commands that these cells may receive is a kill command when a stem cell shows cancerous behavior. By emulating these signals and by tweaking them for every different species and their physiology, we managed to build the first examples of our regenerating technology.” Sininran Sulfur explained.

“So from what you have just explained and from what I am seeing from the data you gave me...” Doctor Jacobson begun as she read her data pad. “The only limitation this technique has is how quickly the machine is able to process everything since each and every cell must be controlled precisely in order to have a perfectly healthy new tissue.”

“Not exactly true” Sulfur begun after some thought. “Theoretically yes, if the machine is controlled by a powerful enough computer then the regeneration itself could take very little time, no matter the injury. In practice the problem is that the new cells have to be fed in order to survive and properly multiply. If the regeneration is taken slowly enough and with multiple sessions over a period of time, then the natural ability of the body to provide sustenance would be enough. This slow process is the normal procedure that the Doranzers choose to follow. It’s safer, painless and allows the patient to slowly re-acclimate themselves with a limb their nervous systems considered lost. In case of an emergency or when a patient desires for the treatment to be done with quickly, a workaround involving injections with vital nutrients at regular intervals is used. This workaround however is extremely painful since the process has to stop when each injection takes place and the anesthetic signals that are sent to the patient’s nerves stop while the body isn’t yet fully healed.” The Loroi explained.

“One has to be really determined to go through all that.” Doctor Jacobson commented and almost immediately Listel Sulfur and Doranzer Needle, who spoke only a handful of times, exchanged glances, obviously saying something to each other telepathically.

“The machine’s software suite looks good and I think that I can get it to run on an emulated environment back on the ship.” Lieutenant Gina Vinica commented as she played with the Loroi data on her own data pad.

“You mean you can get it to run without the machine?” Listel Sulfuer asked in disbelief.

“It should be doable, the trick will be to slow down the program’s functions but I think that I and the others will have a prototype running in a few days.” Lieutenant Vinica replied.

“You make is sound like it is trivially easy.” Sulfur commented. “Software emulation is not something that we do outside of very specialized research.”

“We are doing it all the time actually; in fact there is a whole subculture of tech enthusiasts who create emulations to run centuries old programs on modern computers. This is the same but in reverse, instead of speeding the program up in order to run in a far faster environment we will trick this one to run in a slower environment.” Sulfur just nodded even as her expression betrayed disbelief.

“If you don’t mind Lieutenant Commander Jacobson, may I ask you some questions?” Sulfur asked after a few moments.

“If I am able to answer them, then sure.”

“It’s not something sensitive but it may seem offensive which is not what I wish for.” The Loroi replied.

“Don’t worry, just ask what you have in mind.”

“It is something that bothered me since seeing you for the first time. After examining the data you sent us it was easy to deduce that the human males are the dominant manual laborers and war fighters. I find it odd that human females would become warriors as well.” The Loroi asked with an embarrassed expression which caused both women to chuckle.

“Historically and traditionally the vast majority of human warriors are male. In fact females weren’t allowed in the military until a little over 200 years ago, when certain societal aspects changed. It was hugely problematic at first, not because of an all male mentality, although it did play a part but because of the relentless reality of war and war’s real needs. Even now it is a universal taboo for a human male to strike a female but taboos in war hold little value, especially when the enemy is taken into account.” Doctor Jacobson shrugged at that. “After certain failed experiments it became widely accepted that certain military fields should remain exclusive to males, both for practical and morale reasons. Females could still serve in various other duties however and the extra numbers were always welcome by military planners.”

“That is understandable, especially after seeing your marines.” Sulfur commented and both women chuckled at that again.

“The marines are…marines.” Lieutenant Vinica commented.

“They are, aren’t they?” Sulfur joked but her expression instantly became perplexed and then worried. “I must ask you to follow me.” The Loroi said as she exchanged glances with her comrade.

“Is something the matter?”

“No…I…please follow me, Mizol Torimor Shadowcloud will explain everything when we reach her.”

Chapter 10, part 1: http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 543#p19543
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Had a little problem with the second half of chapter 9. I pondered if I should split it in three parts or do what I did above to conserve space and save some time :P.

Now begins the part that I really look forward to and dread writing :mrgreen:
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Sweforce »

dragoongfa wrote:Has a little problem with the second half of chapter 9. I pondered if I should split it in three parts or do what I did above to conserve space and save some time :P.

Now begins the part that I really look forward to and dread writing :mrgreen:
And we look forward to reading it. This is good stuff.

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