What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

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ShadowDragon8685
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

Krulle wrote:I like Sunphoenix's idea....
Appealing to her own honour. And to the disgrace she would do to her own clan.
Opalstorm is not a clan-type Loroi.

Krulle
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by Krulle »

Diral, then.
Her caste, too.

Lack of honour can spread everywhere.
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

ShadowDragon8685
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

Krulle wrote:Diral, then.
Her caste, too.

Lack of honour can spread everywhere.
Indeed, I'm just saying, the same levers that would work on the Fragile Twins or Mountain Mantle won't necessarily work on Opalstorm.

raistlin34
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by raistlin34 »

Telling her that Stillstorm has offered herself to discipline her wayward daughter, putting the brat under her "care" in the Tempest.
The Loroi equivalent of "I'm tellling your mom" :lol:

ShadowDragon8685
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

raistlin34 wrote:Telling her that Stillstorm has offered herself to discipline her wayward daughter, putting the brat under her "care" in the Tempest.
The Loroi equivalent of "I'm tellling your mom" :lol:
The problem with that is that Opalstorm still believes she behaved correctly. She would call the bluff, fully believing that Stillstorm would concur that she behaved correctly.

She would be very wrong, but she is very mistaken about a great many things.
Last edited by ShadowDragon8685 on Fri Jul 15, 2016 6:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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sunphoenix
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by sunphoenix »

raistlin34 wrote:Telling her that Stillstorm has offered herself to discipline her wayward daughter, putting the brat under her "care" in the Tempest.
The Loroi equivalent of "I'm tellling your mom" :lol:
...besides telling her that would be a lie. Loroi are above such things.
PbP:
[IC] Deep Strike 'Lt' Kamielle Lynn
[IC] Cydonia Rising/Tempest Sonnidezi Stormrage
[IC] Incursion Maiannon Golden Hair
[IC] TdSmR Athen Rourke

"...you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is Kill him."

Sweforce
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by Sweforce »

sunphoenix wrote:...Or Fragile Storm could inform Opal Storm that the ONLY reason she is not being demoted.. is Because Captain Jardin did not want her to face a court marshal.. and either death by duel or death by suicide.. because HE felt SHE still had the potential to be a Excellent and Useful Command Officer!

So.. Fragile Storm has decided to test Captain Jardin's assertions by transferring Opal Storm to his Command as Torrai Liason with him and his flotilla.. for a Dangerous Raid mission into and behind Enemy lines.. yes a chance to earn glory and perhaps redeem her name ...as long as Captain Jardin is satisfactorily impressed with her performance of whatever command duties he assigns to her.

So Fragile Storm puts the weight of improvement SQUARELY upon Opal Storms own honor and ability to perform her duties in combat and in the chain of command... testing HER disicpline and suitability for Command!

Sort of like an internship.. under fire! :twisted:
That would require access to a battle. Maybe the Hierarchy send another fleet to see what happened to the last one.

Another possibility could be to drop her of at an TCA training facility to study the TCA military from the inside by essentially "join" booth camp as a green recruit and earn her way to a graduation. How well would she perform commanding a simulated TCA cruiser vs another with a crew of TCA cadets in her command? Can she refrain from treating her crew as crap when it is her turn to be in command?

Absalom
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by Absalom »

Suederwind wrote:Among those items is something called a "Reservistenstock", a reservist cane.
German "stock" == English "stick" perhaps?
Suederwind wrote:They were rather common before WW1 and were built by the soldiers themselfs from military related stuff or whatever they could their hands on. The pointy end is made of a rifle bullet and its brass, while the metal shaft is so densly covered by railway tickets from various exercises, that one could think it was made out of wood. Its very fragile nowadays, but we decided to keep it, even if no one of us serves in the armed forces, because he was one of the witnesses of the 1914 christmas truce.
You should figure out a way to preserve it long-term before you actually need to preserve it. A cylindrical plastic or resin encasement (can't think of a better word) would hopefully do the job, but I'd worry about discoloration and unintended consequences.

ShadowDragon8685 wrote:
raistlin34 wrote:Telling her that Stillstorm has offered herself to discipline her wayward daughter, putting the brat under her "care" in the Tempest.
The Loroi equivalent of "I'm tellling your mom" :lol:
The problem with that is that Opalstorm still believes she behaved correctly. She would call the bluff, fully believing that Stillstorm would concur that she behaved correctly.

She would be very wrong, but she is very mistaken about a great many things.
If it could be done, then the sudden shock might make the punishment more effective.

Sweforce wrote:Another possibility could be to drop her of at an TCA training facility to study the TCA military from the inside by essentially "join" booth camp as a green recruit and earn her way to a graduation. How well would she perform commanding a simulated TCA cruiser vs another with a crew of TCA cadets in her command? Can she refrain from treating her crew as crap when it is her turn to be in command?
I think that would be better as a "second chance" in the "three strikes, you're out" sense. You really want to start that sort of thing with trustworthy Loroi officers observing, and then follow up with pre-screen known-good candidates going through the training: sending screw-ups in is best left until the process has gone successfully for a few years.

ShadowDragon8685
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

Been awhile. Sorry, stuff kept coming up.

Hope you're in the mood for some cutlery porn.

===================

I'm not sure what I was expecting... But wow.

Alexander Jardin blinked as he found himself standing just within the commander's cabin on the war cruiser Swiftwind. Not nearly as large as that on Tempest, which he had occasion to see years ago, it was still comfortably larger than the cabin he was (as far as he knew still,) sharing with Fireblade. If he had to put two adjectives to the room, he would have chosen 'barbaric professionalism.' Or perhaps 'professional barbarism.'

It was neat, tidy, and squared-away, but what was squared away was another matter. The room was not truly large; a bunk occupied a corner of the far wall, there was a large desk in the near. The closets appeared to be walk-in instead of armoire style as they were on Swiftwind, and were closed.

The walls were decorated with weapons, but he didn't get the sense of historic curiosity that the collection in Stillstorm's cabin had given; this seemed more... Primal, somehow - not the historic collection of a wealthy and influential person, but more like a collection hard-earned by the two hands of its owner - but, by far, the most attention-grabbing display was in the middle of the room, where three suits of armor stood, back-to-back, on a wooden armor stand.

He knew his eyes were wide, as he looked around. Without looking, he knew that Kelly's were, too. Fragile Spear led the way into the room, and glanced back, with a satisfied smirk on her face. Oh yeah, Alex thought. I'm impressed, and she knows it. He hardly knew where to start, but his eyes must have lingered on the armor stand.

They weren't Loroi military uniforms; all three sets were leather; two of them were very much alike, the third, however, was quite different. The two which were alike were made of dark brown, almost black leather, boiled into a hardened carapace and reinforced, he thought,with metal plates; well-oiled and polished, with thick padding and cloaks of fur, dark gray, with stripes of darker gray and black. The third set was a much lighter brown, with a cloak of white fur with brown mottling, and what he would characterize as a kilt that was formed as part of the same pelt.

"These two," Fragile Spear explained without needing to be prompted, "are the first armors made for my twin and I," she explained, stroking the fur cloak on one of the two which were alike, pulling the hood down to show the metal helmet underneath, itself padded with cloth. "This one is mine," she elaborated, "and these were made for us by our grandmother, after we performed an accomplished feat," she said, turning back and grinning.

"We captured the third set from a Hos'te Blec warrior who was intruding on our clan territory, having chased an animal she meant to hunt too far."

Alex blinked, as Kelly tilted her head. "These look like wintertime outfits," she said, and Fragile Spear nodded.
"Indeed, they are. It is very cold where my twin and I are from, it snows quite regularly; hence the utility of cloaks of fur that blend in well. The Hos'te Blec prefer to move in daylight, while my clan prefers to move at night."
"So... You and Fragile Spear robbed someone of her clothes," Kelly asked, dubiously, and Fragile Spear smirked at her, haughtily.
"Certainly not; we were young and foolish; hardly more than children, really, she was experienced and clearly skilled. Attacking her would have been a great way to lose our hair at the least. We shadowed her until she decided to intrude on one of our clan's hot springs and relax, drove a moderately harmless wild animal into the water to occupy her attention, lit some firecrackers for additional confusion, seized her armor and ran as though we had stolen from Tempest herself."

Alex tried to suppress a laugh; Kelly did likewise. Neither of them succeeded, and Alex clamped his hands over his mouth to prevent a full-on giggle from emerging. The amusement of the recollection was hardly lost on Fragile Spear, whose eyes betrayed glee at the memory. "Oh, oh wow. That's... That must have been funny as hell," Kelly admitted, and Fragile Spear grinned.

"It was. The most difficult part of our escape was containing our laughter long enough to get out of hearing distance," she admitted with a grin, and Kelly shook her head.
"I imagine so... But, still, you stole her clothes in the middle of the snow?" Fragile Spear grinned again.
"We did indeed. In doing so, we came so close to that, had she not been wrestling with the animal we drove into the water to distract her, she surely would have seen us. One of the clan scouts later informed us that she had been obliged to skin the beast we helpfully provided for her and wear its hide to return to her clan's nearest border fortress. She reportedly was the subject of much mockery within."

Alex tried hard to suppress another giggle, settling for taking a deep breath, and then cracking up, chuckling as he imagined the scene of one very irate Loroi trudging through the snow wearing a raw animal pelt and muttering about 'those damn kids.' Fragile Spear looked highly satisfied. "And that is, as I said, how my sister and I earned our first sets of armor, made for us; having captured, intact, a Hos'te Blec warrior's entire suit of armor."

"Okay... Yeah, I can see how that would be tricky," Kelly admitted, and Alex nodded, looking around. "Reminds me of some of the Native American tribes' markers for courage in battle - touching an enemy without killing him, or stealing his weapon, or horse."
"Touching a foe without killing them?" Fragile Spear raised an eyebrow, but seemed to think on the matter for a moment, and nodded. "A dangerous feat indeed," she concluded, and stepped away from the armor stands. She cast her eyes around the room, and Jardin followed her gaze; the collection was extensive, and unlike Stillstorm's, did not consist solely of blades. The big weapon display directly across from the door, in fact, consisted of a pair of spears, crossed with the blades upward - short and stout, they had broad leaf-shaped blades, serrated near the base just before they tapered inward and quite long in profile, fullered along the whole length of the blade and featured a broad crossbar at the base of the head. Beneath and above the cross of the spears was a crossbow, a curious blend of traditional and ultramodern; the furniture was polished wood, while the arms appeared to be some kind of modern composite. They featured a foot-hoop for manual cocking, but also an optic sight. Though the weapons were identical in make, careful examination revealed subtle differences; notchings and scars differentiated them, as did some markings and decorations; one of the spears was decorated with a scrap of white fur at the crossguard, while the other featured a cross-cut diamond pattern wood-burnt into the haft at the base of the head. To the sides of the crossed spears were large quivers containing what Alex expected were quarrels.

"My sister and I hunted wild animals with those," Fragile Spear murmured, following his gaze. "My spoken name, in fact, originates in the way I clutched onto mine during a particularly fierce electrical snowstorm when we were quite young... Hers comes from the way she hid under our bed during that same storm." Fragile Spear smirked, and chuckled.

"You... Actually hunted with those," Kelly asked, and Fragile Spear's smirk grew into a broad grin.
"Yes, we do. Actually, I should see if we couldn't take the opportunity to arrange a hunt whilst we are here; certainly your homeworld has some appropriate beasts for such a hunt?"

"Er..." Alex bit his lip, and looked to Kelly.
"Most human polities heavily regulate the act of hunting, for conversational purposes. We've driven a great many animal species into extinction, and the ones that most big game hunters consider properly glorious to hunt are those which are most heavily protected... But it might not be impossible to arrange such an expedition."

Fragile Spear grinned, and Alex looked around slowly, shaking his head. All of the weapons she had were lovely, but all of them seemed... Used, he realized, as his eyes fixed on a pair of blades in a rack in a wall, one very long, one quite short, almost like an overgrown knife. The rack held the scabbards behind the blades. Fragile Spear chuckled quietly, as he zeroed in on them, taking a few steps toward the blades, leaning up to examine them.

The larger one was long, with a longer hilt than would be necessary strictly for a one-handed grip, but it was not so long that he reckoned a strong, large warrior couldn't have one-handed it; he didn't know if he was tall enough to do it properly, though Fireblade, or someone her size, certainly would have been able to. It was a long, slightly curved blade, without fuller but with large, hooked notches removed from the back; sharpened to a point at the tip and back down the back to the first of the notches' sharpened points; the handle was not terribly ornate, having a leather grip and it had little in the way of crossguard, but it did have a handguard at the front of the blade. The small crossguard-hand guard-pommel assembly were gold-looking; in equal measures it reminded him of a pirate's cutlass and a samurai's katana, but up-close, he saw that the blade sported an intricate, wavy kind of pattern.

The second blade, Alex thought curiously, did not match the style of the first in the slightest, except that the blade shared the same intricate, wavy, water-like pattern up close. It was far shorter and broader front-to-back, not that the long blade was thin in that regard; it lacked the cut-out, downward-facing spiked notches of the first blade, but did feature a fuller, and was sharp only on the front and the chisel-ended tip of the blade, which angled sharp and straight up to its point. It had no hand-guard, but did have a thick and substantial crossguard.

Curiously, he noted that though the blades were wildly dissimilar except in both featuring that wavy pattern, the scabbards were clearly of similar construction. "These blades," he said, curiously. "They don't appear very alike. Is there a story to them?"

"There is indeed, Alexander Jardin," Fragile Spear murmured, walking to his side. She lifted the large blade, carefully, turning it over in her hands. "These blades belonged to a Belerid pirate who was active on Taben shortly before scouts from Deinar established contact with that world. She was among the last of a dying breed of pirates who sailed wooden ships and raided the southerly Amenal people - among the last because the Amenal; who were a largely peaceful people, nearly unique among our people - finally resolved to settle the matter of northern raids upon their islands through the simple expedient of using advanced weapons to blow the Belerid raiders apart."

"Wow... Wait," Alex said. "Taben was recontacted in..." He wished Beryl were at her side, but she'd said it before, years ago. After a moment, it came to him. "64 SYU, right?" Fragile Storm nodded. "That was 895 CE - twelve-hundred, seventy years ago. How could they possibly have lasted this long?"

"The story behind that is almost as interesting as the story of their previous owner," Fragile Storm said with a grin. "As I was saying, the pirate - her name was Snowfury Ship-Saber - was, perhaps, not the most legendary of pirates, but she was tenacious, quarrelsome, and difficult to deal with. She proved a proper menace by successfully boarding and seizing one of the technologically-advanced vessels which the Amenal constructed to hunt down pirates like her."

Kelly whistled. "That must have been trouble. What happened?"
"Contact happened," Fragile Spear explained. "The Belerid were technologically somewhat backwards, while the Amenal were highly advanced. They did not have spaceflight - it is doubtful they would have been able to implement spaceflight on their own for lack of land and the resources that go with land - but they had a wealth of Soia-era artifacts that led to them being the first modern Loroi to rediscover advanced technology. Anyway, the blades themselves; the first blade, the larger, is Belerid in origin. It is a very fine blade, a killing weapon which has shed life's blood, and it was made for an ancestor of Snowfury some two hundred years before contact. The second, the shorter, belonged to an Amenal warrior captain who attempted to hunt Snowfury down forty years before contact, while in the midst of a terrible winter. Unfortunately for her, the southern islands are gentle and not terribly given to cold weather, and she was entirely unsuited to icy sailing conditions. They became trapped in ice in a fjord; not too far from where Snowfury's vessel had been pulled out of the water and coated in pitch to winter. The Amenal captain was aware of this fact, and decided that the best course of action would be to disembark, cross the ice on foot, and attack Snowfury and her crew on land, as they feasted and celebrated their raiding season's haul."

"Clearly, that did not go according to plan," Kelly quipped, and Fragile Storm laughed, while Alex grinned.
"It was a disaster," she admitted. "The Amenal captain and her crew were, to start off, unaccustomed to icy weather, and were badly underequipped for it. They also made the grave mistake of assuming that the locals were in some way or another mistreated by Snowfury and her crew, and would at the least provide her with intelligence, when in fact quite the opposite was true; they actively misled her, and informed on her to Snowfury. The result was that when she reached Snowfury's winter camp, nobody and nothing was to be found there."

"Let me guess: they'd snuck back to the idiot's own ship and torched it," Kelly said, and Fragile Storm laughed again.
"Better. They snuck back to her vessel and laid in wait; helped themselves to her provisions and accommodations, while the enemy captain searched high and low for them. Eventually, she concluded that Snowfury had fled, put her ship to the torch, and snuck back. When they were crossing the ice to return to their vessel, Snowfury's crew opened fire with the cannons."

Alex and Kelly winced. "Oh, wow," he said, and Fragile Storm grinned.
"It was a slaughter; the first volley wiped out the vast majority of the crew. There was no second; the pirates leapt over the side, to the ice, and attacked, eager to get within the range of a blade. This was something of a mistake, as the Amenal had recently developed multiple-shot repeating firearms, but too many of the Amenal crew were dead or incapacitated to make them pay for closing to blade's range. The clash of blades was great."

"Let me guess," Kelly said, "she took the blade from the Amenal captain's cold, dead hands?"
"No, actually," Fragile Storm explained. "She forced her to surrender and hand over the blade. Then, allegedly, she took her captive, and made her perform for her the same way she was famous for making males seized from Amenal towns perform for her."

Alex blinked, as did Kelly; they both stared at Fragile Storm, who had an amused smirk on her face. "According to what accounts could be told, Snowfury's captive came to be eager for such use; eventually, she was freed from her chains and made a part of the crew. We can't know for certain, but there were several Amenal among her crew when she was finally killed."

"Huh..." Alex bit his lip, and Kelly blushed.
"Oh, right - pirates are the bad guys, even if they are fun," Kelly said, chuckling. "So, uh... What happened to her?"
"As I said, Contact happened. Scout vessels from Deinar landed and made contact with the Amenal. Among the things they did whilst they were there, they were asked to help deal with the pirate problem once and for all. A scout vessel with several Unsheathed dropped in unannounced on Snowfury's vessel, again while they were wintering. This time, the attack went nearly perfectly, but Snowfury herself managed to kill three of the Unsheathed through stealth and trickery before an ancestor of mine ended her, and claimed the blades."

"Ah," Alex said. "And that's how they came to be yours?"
"Not quite." Fragile Spear grinned. "They were, indeed, conveyed back to Deinar, and were placed triumphantly in our clan's great hall. There they remained for only ten short years, before a Hos'te Blec thief stole them. Spitefully, recognizing that we would not rest until we recovered them as long as they remained within the distance a few warriors could travel on foot. So she hid it, allegedly on Perrein."

"Allegedly," Alex asked, and Fragile Storm grinned.
"The Hos'te Blec are dirty liars and thieves... But they are clever. She did fly to Perrein... Whereupon she assumed a new identity and joined a ship that was returning to the system of our homeworld, but not to Deinar. She flew to Mazen, and thereupon joined a research mission that was flying to the comet Semoset, whereon she buried the blades in a box under vacuum conditions."

"Wow. That is a lot of trouble to go to," Kelly said, and Fragile Spear nodded.
"I know!" The Loroi captain seemed almost admiring of the effort that had been gone to. "It was spite, pure and simple, but executed with masterful excellence. She stole ten weapons of some importance or other from my clan. Her clan's elders took most of them from her, to award to other champions of her clan, but left her with those blades. Of course, we had hunted down the warriors who had the other weapons within five years and killed them, but we never caught the thief, nor found the blades... At least, not until my twin and I went looking."

"How did you find them," Alex asked, and she grinned.
"Fifty years ago, my sister and I had occasion to visit Perrein. We noted an older Mizol who had very Hos'te Blec features. We questioned her about her ancestry; she was a descendant of that thief, and although she did not consider herself Hos'te Blec, she was aware of her ancestor's deeds and the rivalry. Rather than risk our wrath, she chose simply to tell us where the blades had been concealed, seeing it as a matter she had nothing to do with. When we returned to Deinar, we flew to Semoset, examined the coordinates she had given us, and found the blades preserved by vacuum. The leather had considerably suffered, but was sufficiently intact for us to have the scabbards and the grips remade when we visited Taben."

"Wow." Kelly and Alex said nearly simultaneously; they grinned at one another, then at Fragile Spear. "That is an incredible story," Alex said, and Fragile Storm nodded at him, as Kelly turned to him.
"Man, could you imagine that - a sword owned and used by an actual pirate. That would be like owning Edward Teach's cutlass," she said, and Alex shook his head, grinning.
"Edward Teach? I presume, by context, that was a famous pirate on your world," Fragile Spear asked, and Kelly grinned.
"He was better known as Blackbeard, one of the deadliest and certainly one of the most famous pirate of the Caribbean Sea during the Golden Age of Piracy. It took something incredible like five gunshots and twenty slashes of a sword to bring him down, and when they decapitated him and threw his body into the ocean, it's said his headless corpse swam around the vessel several times before sinking."

Fragile Storm laughed at that, heartily, and grinned back at Kelly. "A worthy legend for a great warrior's demise, even if I suspect that was not likely the factual case," she said, flashing a bright grin at Kelly, who nodded at her.
Alex shook his head, chuckling softly, then sucked in a hiss of breath as Fragile Spear extended the sword in her hand to him. "Here, hold it. See what you think," she offered. Swallowing hard, he took the blade carefully, wrapping his right hand around the grip.

The sword felt... Odd in his hand; nice, but odd, as he stared at it; it was surprisingly lighter than he thought it would be, when he held the blade up, but when holding it horizontally, the length made it want to drag. He stepped away from the wall, and squeezed the grip with both hands; in a two-handed grip, it felt right, conjuring up in his minds strains of Japanese music from anime or video games he had surely played as a teenager, and he tried to take up a katana-fighting stance he quarter-remembered from those same sources.

Kelly whistled. "You look a little like a Samurai, Cap'n," she said, and a bright flash lit the wall, dazzling the side of his right eye as she took a photograph with her tablet.
"You look like any novice warrior I've ever allowed to hold a blade," Fragile Storm said; Alex wasn't sure if that was an insult or not, but she clarified, "which is to say, entirely unskilled, but as though you take to arms naturally. I believe the requirement was for a single-handed blade, though? You are somewhat too short to properly use this blade one-handed, though it would make a fine two-handed for you."

Alex blinked at that, and carefully turned the sword back horizontal to the ground, holding it up; Fragile Storm carefully took it from him, and set it back in its holder, shaking her head. "A pity, really. It did seem to suit you, but I would not wish to break up the pair." The Loroi captain shook her head, tisking and looking around slowly.

Holy crap. Is she seriously giving me a sword? Alex felt a sensation of giddiness and fear, as he looked around. His eyes fell across the room, on a short blade that at first he thought was steeply curved like a scimitar, then he realized it was sharpened on the inside of the curve, not the outside. Fragile Spear chuckled, walking over and picking the blade up by the handle.

"This is one of numerous styles of blade that have, at one point or another, been known as a Shadowblade to the Perrein Loroi," she explained. "It's not really suitable, I would think, as a badge of office; this is an assassin's weapon, in the traditional style." Alex gulped, as she gave the blade a few testing swings. "Not particularly a practical weapon for killing outright with the blade, the curious way it is forged makes this blade very good at retaining highly viscous substances. Since the amount of such substances on Perrein which are highly poisonous is dizzying to contemplate, you can imagine the utility of such a weapon."

Kelly snorted, shaking her head. "Let me guess, this one was used to assassinate someone important a few hundred years ago?" Fragile Storm turned, and grinned at her.
"I've no idea. I do know that the first time I was on Perrein - when Fragile Spear and I were tracking down those blades, in fact," she said, gesturing to the two pirate swords with the one in her hand, "I evidently gave someone such offense for something that she sent an assassin wielding this blade after me. Unfortunately for the assassin, she was unable to distinguish between Fragile Spear and myself, and attacked my sister. This proved spectacularly fatal for her; so rapidly, in fact, there was no time whatsoever to attempt to even garner any information from her. We saw fit to leave before more assassins arrived, but took the blade with us... It has been thoroughly cleaned, I assure you."

Alex blinked, shaking his head and staring at the blade, as Fragile Spear carefully put it back on its holder. "An interesting curiosity, at least a hundred years old when we seized it, but without maker's mark, so tracing it would have taken an awful lot of time and effort. As we had satisfactorily accomplished our errand on Perrein, we decided it was not worth lingering."

Kelly snorted, and Alex nodded. "Yeah, probably a good call," he said, looking around again, but Fragile Spear beat him to it, walking over to the wall by her table, taking a display from the wall. It featured an elaborately decorated round shield with metal rim and cap in the middle, while the rest was, Alex thought, made of hide-covered wood. She set the display on the table, and pulled the two swords from the back; both were in their scabbards, and looked very nearly identical. She then pulled two smaller scabbards away from the back of the shield as well; small, but broad, and grinned, running her fingers over one of the scabbards, then pulling the blade within out.

Alex's eyebrows raised, and he peered at the blade - long, but not as long as the katana-like pirate's blade, the blade within was slightly curved, raising to a thrusting point, with a sharpened back to the tip; the blade had no cut-out in the back, but the tip was notably thicker than the body, weighting it for strong, chopping slashes, and the blade had that curious Loroi affectation he had first seen in the depiction of the historical Tempest aboard the vessel which bore her name; by which it narrowed substantially, with about an inch of tang exposed from the top of the crossguard to the gilt-clad bottom of the cutting edge. Instead of an elaborate, blade-hugging curlicue, though, the blade had a stylized, diving bird-of-prey embossed on the sides at the edges, and along the length of the blade was engraved, on the left side, a phrase he translated as 'Friendship begets friendship' and on the other side, 'Loyalty begets loyalty.' The blade's cutting edges bore that watery pattern, but the sides were smooth, other than their engraving. The crossguard and the pommel featured bright violet gemstones, and the handle had a bright, gilded hand-guard. Alex stared in awe, and Fragile Spear smiled, holding the blade out for him. Carefully, he took it by the handle, examining the blade.

"This is beautiful," he murmured, and Kelly nodded.
"It looks like... Like a cavalry sabre, almost, but also like certain, uh, certain Arabic swords have that widening towards the tip," she said, and looked up at Fragile Spear. "What are the significance of the engravings?"

The Loroi captain smiled at her. "In the aftermath of Eighth Dawn's reign, the matter of the rivalry between the Hos'te Blec, and we - the Kol'e Blec - was a difficult one to handle. She did not wish us to be at each other's throats, of course, but no emperor, no matter how mighty, can simply order a blood feud whose roots go back so far they descend from the realm of history into that of myth, to simply be over. Prohibiting us from intentionally finishing off a bested opponent, and from ambushing one another, went quite some way to reducing the bloodshed. Among many of the small things she did to attempt to build ties between us, she granted each of our clans the right to use an imperial heraldic animal as our emblem... But she would never tell us which animal was ours."

Fragile Storm drew the other blade. It was nearly identical, save that it had a red gemstone, and instead of a diving raptor, featured some kind of large land predator, bear-like in proportion, six-limbed and dangerous-looking. "She gave one blade with each animal to each of our clans. It is known that she had wrote down which clan's animal was which, committing it to a physical page, which she kept with her at all times, and thus it would be made known upon her death... Unfortunately, the destruction of her flagship Skymaster rather prevented that. So now we shall never know, and perhaps that is as she intended all along."

"These blades were made for your Clan by Emperor Eighth Dawn?" Alex felt an icy shiver threaten to run through him, and Fragile Spear laughed.
"They most certainly were not. The blades which were commissioned by Eighth Dawn are safe at the Kol'e Blec keep on Deinar. These blades were made for my sister and myself upon being advanced to the Torrai caste. They are not reproductions, but highly inspired by the original blades. Look carefully," she said, turning the blade over; this time, Alex felt like an idiot; where there was the bear on the side he had seen previously, now there was the raptor, and when he double-checked the sword in his hand, it had both emblems on it. It was also differentiated from the other by the bright red gemstone in the crossguard and pommel.

"Wow... So, she basically cleverly found a way to force you to get along?"
"Essentially," Fragile Spear answered Kelly's question. "As we do not know which emblem is ours, we do not dare pick one and use only it, for fear of inadvertently displaying the Hos'te Blec's emblem and claiming membership in their clan. But as long as we bear a banner or otherwise display both emblems, neither the Hos'te Blec nor we will attack the other, as that would be waging war upon our own symbol; not only an egregious violation of honor, but an attack upon the Imperial authority of Eighth Dawn herself, to so reject her gift. She could not make us friends, despite her best effort, but she could cause us to cease slaughtering one another and turn our blades elsewhere. Hence the inscriptions."

"I, uh... I can't read it," Kelly admitted. "We haven't really had time to learn Loroi script," she explained, and Alex grinned.
"Loosely translated; 'Friendship begets Friendship, Loyalty begets Loyalty.'" he said, in English, and Kelly laughed, nodding.
"Ahh - I can see that," she said to him with a smile, then she looked back to Fragile Spear, switching back to Trade. "They're beautiful. Are the smaller blades made to go with them?"
"They are; here, observe," Fragile Spear said, drawing one of the blades from its sheathe. Alex whistled slightly; the forward-swept blade was distinctly a kukri; very alike in shape to the infamous blade of human Gurkhas. The tip of the blade was wider at the end, just as with the swords, and the blades featured the etched land and air predators on the sides. The handle was much like that of the sword, and featured a crossguard and the extended tag above the crossguard, though without the hand-guard or the gilded edge clutching the bottom of the blade, but with the addition of an expanded pommel for better grip. As with the sword, the sharpened cutting surface of the knife had that same, unmistakably awesome wavy pattern.

"Oh, wow," Kelly said, leaning in and peering at the blade."That's - we'd call that kind of knife a 'kukri.' They're associated with, by far, some of the deadliest and most skilled human warriors," she said, and Fragile Storm grinned, clearly pleased.
"My twin and I acquired a blade rather like this on another journey to Perrein - quite some time after the time when someone sent an assassin after me. It caught my eye because, although forward-swept like that sword," she said, gesturing with the kukri to the brutally hooked assassin's blade on the wall, "It was a fully-modern composite weapon, made for utility... Yet, we could not ascertain who made it. We found it at the bottom of a river whilst searching for something else entirely, and it seemed to be a utility tool, but we could find no armorer on Perrein within a great distance who recognized the make, nor any factory which produced them. My sister hopes that the blade is a Soia artifact, but even she must admit this is extremely unlikely given the utter dearth of Soia artifacts on Perrein; I think it far more likely that the blade was a utility knife lost by a Barsam traveler, or possibly a Neridi traveler's foliage-clearing blade. Either way, my twin and I were quite pleased with the find, and so was our mother when we showed it to her. She kept it," she added, with a grin, "and gave it to the forgemaster to use as the pattern for an accompanying weapon when she commissioned these blades for us upon our promotion."

Alex shook his head, chuckling and grinning. He touched the scabbard of the other kukri. "May I?" At a nod, he pulled it from the sheathe; though the sword in his right hand resembled a sabre, and the knife in his left was akin to a kukri. Both were sharp, and, he could tell, lovingly maintained, and for a moment whilst holding them, his mind drifted back to his conversation with Fireblade earlier, and he briefly imagined himself astride a galloping fast horse, amidst a cataclysmic cavalry charge straight down the muzzles of roaring cannons.

It was funny, he thought; the pistol that was still holstered under his left arm was in every way many, many times as deadly and efficient as the sword and the knife, but they still felt far more awe-inspiring and respect-commanding. He suddenly broke into a grin, shaking his head and laughing. "These are beautiful, Fragile Spear," he said. "Works of art," he said, and she grinned.

"Indeed." Fragile Spear said, slowly. She carefully sheathed the knife she was holding, then the sword. She took the sword from Alex, sheathing it carefully, and he sheathed the knife. Then she picked up the scabbard, and he blinked as she held it to his right hip. Looking down, he swallowed, as she adjusted the angle a few times, and then grinned.

"It's a good, long blade in your grasp, but not too long as to be clumsy for one handed use, though," she concluded, and Alex blinked, then he blinked again.
"Holy - you're not considering giving me one of these," he asked, dumbstruck, and she smiled.
"No, Captain. I am considering giving you the set," she said, and he boggled.

"I... What?" His jaw dropped, and Fragile Spear grinned.
"These blades were made for my twin and I to commemorate an achievement in our lives; but it would be entirely appropriate to pass them on to an honored friend and ally; of the Union, and of both the Kol'e Blec and Hos'te Blec," she said, grinning slightly. "I understand you have some... Interesting relationships with them?"

Alex coughed, looking away. "That's... Kind of an uncomfortable topic," he said, biting his lip. "But I've certainly no grudge against them. They're friendly enough, I guess, if they don't have some ancient rivalry with you."
"I imagine they are," Fragile Spear conceded with a smile. "And my sister concurs that if I am to make a gift of a sword to you, one of these blades would be most suitable. As she believes the display would look unbalanced with only the one, it would be best to give you the whole set. She has volunteered her blade as well as mine, then."

Alex blinked. "I... Wow..." He felt dumbstruck, finding it hard to think of what to say. "I... Thank you," he finally said, blinking. "I'm not sure - I... Can I really accept this," he asked, feeling nervous; Kelly shrugged, when he glanced at her.
"Hard to say, Captain. The regulations prohibit us from accepting gifts of significant monetary value under ordinary circumstances, to prevent TCA officers from using their positions for profit. On the other hand, I think a political gift like this would probably be better accepted than refused, for fear of offending an important ally," she said, grinning at Fragile Storm, who raised an eyebrow.
"It would be a minor slight to refuse," she cautioned, then softened; "On the other hand, it would hardly be a slight of your delivery if you were ordered to refuse by your superior."

Alex shook his head, and chuckled. "I... Wow." He sucked in a breath. "Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission," he said in Kelly's direction, and she nodded. "What am I going to do with two swords and matched knives," he asked, and Kelly grinned.
"You could wear one sword on each hip like a pirate," she suggested, drawing a grin from the tall Loroi captain.
"That is an option," she suggested. "Alternatively, you could save one to be given as a gift from yourself to another, when such time is appropriate. If nothing else, you could give the blades to your adjutant when she herself advances to such a rank as a human warrior is required to own a sword. I would ask that you not separate the matching knife from its sword, however," she said, and Alex bit his lip, nodding.

"Alright, I..." He shook his head, feeling slightly overwhelmed. "Wow. Yeah, um... Yeah. I'll take good care of them," he promised, and Fragile Spear nodded, lifting the blades in their scabbards, placing them in his hands. Kelly picked up the forward-curved knives, almost reverently, and Alex grinned, looking around. "Wow. This collection is incredible," he said; he'd seen less than a tenth of the weapons in her quarters, he estimated, and Fragile Spear grinned at him. "I think this is larger than Stillstorm's collection."

"Stillstorm's 'collection.'" Fragile Spear gave a derisive snort, rolling her eyes, and Alex looked up at her.
"You disapprove," he asked, and she nodded.
"I do. Stillstorm is a collector; in the truest sense, like the curator of a museum, she uses her influence, fame and connections to accumulate the most beautiful and pristine examples of historical blades. Certainly, her collection is valuable and prestigious, beautiful certainly; but I consider it sterile. My twin and I, before the Hierarchy put an end to such activities and turned our attention to their destruction, were adventurers; every blade we own either has a story, and was recovered from its resting place by us, or was seized from its previous owner by us, or was a gift made to us for some accomplishment. I don't believe Stillstorm has acquired any of her blades by her own hand. They are a curiosity for her, not a way of life."

The strength of Fragile Spear's sudden opinion caught him by surprise, but Alex grinned nonetheless; he was glad, finally, to hear a Loroi willing to voice an opinion against the hardassed commander of Strike Group 51, without having some political reason to want her dead. "Her collection did seem kind of sterile," he admitted, and Fragile Spear grinned at him. She gestured around the room, her gaze - and the direction of her hand - finally settling on some kind of large, bladed polearms crossed above the door; one of them seemingly a sword on both ends, the other some kind of hacking type. She then grinned.
"Perhaps another time, I'll tell you about these, but Highland-12 is nearly prepared. You should hurry if you're going to take these to your cabin and get to the shuttle without wasting time."

Alex felt an 'oh crap' look pass over his face, and Fragile Spear laughed, gesturing to the door. "You had better walk swiftly."

Alex laughed, and nodded. "I - wow. Thank you, Fragile Spear," he said, walking backwards towards the door, the two blades clutched in his hands. "Please convey to your twin my thanks as well," he asked, and she nodded, as he turned and hurried out the door; turning and walking swiftly down the corridor, hoping he remembered the way to the docking port that Swiftwindwas attached to. As he hurried, he looked back at Kelly, laughing. "How the hell do you know, like.... Everything," he demanded, and she laughed.
"I'm an adjutant, sir! It's my job to know everything," Kelly shot back, and Alex nearly toppled ass-over-teakettle laughing, skidding to a halt for a moment before resuming walking.
"Oh, jeeze; another one," he said in English, "you and Beryl must get on like a house on fire." In response, Kelly laughed again.
"She's adorable," Kelly agreed, "Brilliant and sweet. Everything my last roomie wasn't..." Kelly trailed off, and Alex looked back, raising his eyebrow.

"Is there a 'but'," he asked, and Kelly shook her head.
"No, not really a 'but'. It's just..." The redhead shook her head. "She took the bottom bunk. Capsule, bunk, whatever you wanna call it." Alex nodded; most Loroi crew spaces were over-under bunks like a capsule hotel's pods, with sealable doors. His cabin had only been intended for one, hence it had a proper bed.
"You wanted the bottom bunk? I'm sure you could talk her into swapping," Alex suggested, but Kelly shook her head.

"No, it's not that. She woke me up at Dark O'clock... By ramming her head into the bottom of my bunk." Alex stopped in his tracks, looking back and raising his eyebrow. Kelly passed him, and turned back to look at him, prompting him to move. "She had a nightmare, I guess. Or maybe she just woke up and hit her head, but I'm pretty sure it was a nightmare. She sniffled a lot after that, but I couldn't tell if those were 'oh god, why, my fucking head hurts' tears or if it was because of nightmares... I was just about to do something, but she slipped out and made a beeline down the hall."

Alex swallowed, and rubbed his eyes. Why didn't Fireblade tell me? She knew Beryl was in the shower - oh. That's why she did that meditation thing in the water. He shook his head, swallowing, and sighed. "Did she say anythin - oh, of course she didn't," he said, snorting and shaking his head, and Kelly nodded, shaking hers in turn.
"Nah, she just... I guess she got it under control fast, I'm just sensitive to crying, and sudden things hitting the bottom of my bed. By the time I was just sitting up and getting ready to climb down, she was getting dressed, then; gone. I guess it couldn't have been all that bad, but still..."

"Yeah." Alex shook his head. "Could've been any number of things. I'll talk to her," he said, and Kelly bit her lip.
"She's not gonna be pissed at me for telling on her, is she," the redhead asked, and he shook his head.
"That's not her style. Anyway, we're here," he said, pointing to the figure of Rainfall standing by the door. She snapped to as he and Kelly approached, her eyes glancing down at the swords he was carrying.
"At ease; don't ask," he said in Trade, and the pink-haired Maiad Loroi nodded, going back to standing as they cycled in through the airlock.

Stowing the swords were simple; he noted with a satisfied sense that Tempo - he presumed - had stood the vessel down from high alert, so other than the guards at the airlock, the ship no longer resembled an armed encampment. For lack of a better place to store them, he placed the four steel blades on the desk, against the wall, and turned to the door.
Stepping towards the door, it opened before he expected; just as Fireblade was stepping through the door. Both of them barely managed to arrest their momentum before running into one another, and he was glad she didn't see fit to propel him backwards with a burst of force. "Alexander; good. I was told you had returned," she murmured, and he suppressed a laugh at the absurdity of almost running headfirst into one of his friends. "The shuttle you requested of Fragile Storm is prepared."

Alex nodded. "Yeah, so we were told," he explained. Fireblade nodded, then her eyes flicked to the swords on the desk, her eyebrows raising. "Bit of a story there," he said with a grin, "let's walk; I'll talk."
Jardin filled Fireblade in with what had transpired in Fragile Spear's cabin, grinning as he recounted the sheer size of her collection. "I'd love to hear the details of the whole thing, but that could take a week," he concluded as they strode down a corridor aboard Retribution, and Fireblade chuckled.
"Indeed, I have heard of their collection, though I had not seen it with my own eyes," the tall warrior said, and Alex nodded. "It is supposed to be a thing of beauty."

"Oh, it is," Kelly said, speaking up. "She has this thing in there that's like a cross between a katana and a cutlass," she said, using the English words in the Trade sentence, "that's just amazing. And it was owned by an actual pirate who sailed a wooden ship!" She let out a quiet squee, and Fireblade raised her eyebrow.
"This is something of particular relevance to humans," she asked, and Jardin chuckled.
"Humans have a... Heroic myth built around the deeds of famous pirates from the days that we called the Golden Age of Sail - wooden ships, propelled by canvas sails, fighting with cannons, closing to boarding range and swarming the decks with cutlasses and pistols."

Fireblade laughed, and shook her head. "I suppose that such heroic myths must be more common on worlds which developed technologically, rather than those which were colonized after the invention of the Hyperdrive. I regret that I do not see the appeal."
Alex grinned, and raised his elbow, gently prodding Fireblade's armored ribs. She looked down at him, and he grinned up at her. "That's because you are Unsheathed, so you don't really relate to things like charging the cannons with the Light Brigade, sword in hand astride a galloping horse. You'd just use your telekinesis and win everything and go home. In a ground fight, Fireblade, you are a cheater."

Fireblade smirked at him, slowly growing to a grin, and Kelly laughed. "Maxim 31, Cap'n: Only cheaters prosper!" He smirked, and Fireblade laughed.
"Indeed. Warfare is not a game or contest of equals, unless something has gone terribly wrong... That having been said, I must express my curiosity; what does a horse actually look like? You have explained them to me, Alexander, but I confess to having little conception of what one looks like."
"Ah, they're big, hairy quadrupeds," Alex said, and Kelly laughed, pulling her tablet from her pocket.
"Image Search: Horse with female rider," she said to the tablet. She examined it, scrolling and scrolling, and cursed. "Goddamn glamor shots and pinups," she muttered in English, addressing the tablet again: "Image Search: Cowgirl riding horse," she said, and after a moment, nodded. Fireblade looked at her, eyebrow raised, and she flashed the tablet to him for approval.

The tablet was displaying a woman who looked to be in her thirties, wearing an ordinary blue shirt, broad-brimmed hat, black, lightweight-looking duster, blue jeans and boots,with leather chaps on, astride a great beast of a chestnut-brown stallion, atop a high elevation, looking off into the distance. He suspected the image was taken somewhere in the Rocky Mountains during spring or autumn; there was little to nothing titillating about the image, as the woman and her horse were fully geared for practical riding in the wilderness, even including a large leather satchel on the saddle.

At this he nodded, and Kelly handed the pad to her. She stared at it, and examined it for a few moments, her eyebrows raising. "This beast is a' horse,' then," she asked, and Alex nodded. "It is... Very large. I find it... Curious that you can control such huge animals without sanzai," she said, and Kelly grinned.
"Horses are pretty easy to ride, once you've broken them in. They're... Really pretty gentle creatures, they bond well with humans, and like to be around us and be ridden once they've been acclimated to us."
"Let me guess, your family keeps horses," Alex asked, and Kelly shook her head, smiling.
"No, but when I was fourteen, I desperately wanted a horse; well, a pony, because of course I did, I was a teenaged girl. My parents sent me to an equestrian ranch in Oklahoma, figuring that a month of the real deal and having to clean up after horses would put me off it."

"I take it their experiment backfired," Fireblade asked, and Kelly shrugged.
"Cleaning literal horseshit out of a barn is not something anybody particularly enjoys," she admitted with a wry grin, "but yeah, I loved getting to ride them, and get to know them and all. I loved it, on the whole, and I was really sad when I heard that Buttermilk - this sweet, absolutely enormous Irish Hunter that I got to know at the ranch, was killed."

"You were sad - when the animal died," Fireblade asked, and Kelly snorted.
"Well, yeah. I loved that horse," Kelly explained with a smile, and held her tablet up. "Personal files: Buttermilk." She looked through them for a moment, and held the tablet up again. It showed a much-smaller Amelia Kelly, wearing a white blazer and blue jeans, standing next to what was, indeed, a very large, black mare with a white face. Fireblade peered at the tablet, raising her eyebrow.

"You were fourteen - years, I presume - when this image was taken," she asked, and Kelly nodded. "Your race grows slow," Fireblade concluded, and Alex chuckled.
"We do, compared to Loroi. But that means that any one of us has a lot more worldly experience and knowledge than any Loroi when she reached adulthood," he said, taking a step forward. The pair who were talking with him did likewise, and they began to move again, as they continued to talk.
Fireblade shrugged at that. "That seems to be the case; you certainly have a great and astonishing depth of trivia and non-factual information information at your command," she said, smirking. He let the barb go, as she continued, "but back to my question; the death of this creature saddened you to a significant degree?"

"Yes," Kelly said. "I mean, it wasn't like a member of my family had died; not even like a family pet had died, but I was still sad enough to get the sniffles over it... Why, don't Loroi keep pets," she asked. Fireblade shrugged.
"Some do," Alex said, "but generally, they seem to have a dearth of cuddly critters. No horses, dogs, or cats, or anything that fills any of those roles, on any of the Loroi worlds that I know of... You know, come to think of it, most of the critters on Loroi worlds are genetically engineered like the Loroi, aren't they," he asked. Fireblade shrugged.
"I believe so, but that question is better directed to Tempo and Beryl," she said, but Kelly interrupted.
"Woah, woah, woah woah woah - hold the comlink - the Loroi are genetically engineered?!"

"Yeah," Alex said. "Actually, so are the Barsam and the fuckin' shells, and the Neiridi, and that's off the top of my head. See, fucktons of hundred thousand years ago, there were this race called the Soia, who engineered a whole bunch of races and lorded it up around the Local Bubble. Then..." He shrugged. "God knows what happened to them. Giant clusterfuck war, maybe. The Loroi maintain that they were the Soia's race of warriors, and that as such, their worthiness to be dominant is clear. Of course, my arrival shook things up a bit," he admitted with agrin, and Fireblade rolled her eyes.
"I neither know, nor care, about what function we were made for. The Soia are gone and dead; we inherited some of their cast-off technologies and worlds, but we are the... What was the phrase you used when that Barsam preacher spoke to you of Fate?"
"The architects of our own fate," Alex supplied, and Fireblade nodded.
"Indeed, though I think I would prefer to use weaponcrating as the analogy, rather than base construction."

Alex smirked. "Of course you would; either way, the sentiment is the same. We make our destiny, not some 'ancients.'"
Arriving at the shuttle bay aboard Retribution, he looked out at the Highland shuttle, grinning. "I really wish we had space for one of those in the 'vettes. That is a beautiful shuttle, isn't it?"
"It really is," Kelly agreed, then she paused. He looked back at her, as her eyebrow arched. "You know, something's been bothering me about Loroi ships, and it just hit me."

"Bothering you - about our vessels? Do they make you uncomfortable somehow," Fireblade asked, and Kelly shook her head.
"No, quite the opposite. I mean - these ships... They're beautiful. But they're warships - why are you using resources on things like giant holo-tanks to display nudes of famous admirals?"

Fireblade blinked, looking at Kelly quizzically. "I am not sure I understand your question," she asked, and Alex chuckled.
"Look, Kelly - you've played Starcraft XIII, right?" She nodded. "It's Protoss versus Zerg out there, and the Loroi are the Protoss. Their ships come off the line a lot slower, but -"
"Each one is worth a lot more than the Umiak vessels kilo for kilo, so a few embellishments don't drain much in the way of resources by comparison," she said, nodding, adding "Gotcha," and continuing towards the boarding gantry. Fireblade rolled her eyes again, shaking her head and Alex grinned at her, not needing sanzai to know she was exasperated.

"You're just pissed because I referenced another work of fiction and conveyed like, two or three exchange's worth of discussing the merits of quality versus quantity," he said to her, and Fireblade rolled her eyes again, getting an even bigger grin from him.
"Seeing you interact with another human is highly illuminating, my friend," Fireblade said. "Now, I am astonished that you are as capable as you are, with your head so full of frivolities."

Alex grinned again, as they reached the boarding ramp, and entered the airlock on the shuttle; cycling in, he found Beryl and Tempo sitting at a table in the main hold, with two Tenoin Narrat; he recognized them as the same ones who had gotten a deer-in-headlights look at him last time. Their expression this time didn't differ much from then, and Alex sighed. Going to have to introduce myself, he thought.
Last edited by ShadowDragon8685 on Tue Jul 19, 2016 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Durabys
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by Durabys »

Oh god.

If Alex gets gifted ceremonial swords and daggers from two very notorious (and Hos'te Blec would also say, infamous) Kol'e Blec twins..

..what will be the reaction of the Hos'te Blec Matriarchs once the news of their Arch Enemies trying to woo their prince charming finally get to them!? :shock:

They may gift him an entire armory! :o

Oh crap. Alex has a Hos'te Blec officer on his command ship..

..which means the moment the ships crew learns of this..and they are near a Loroi world..a certain someone will be furiously sending a courier video-message to her mother and the Hos'te Blec matriarchs about how she has beaten the Kol'e Blec Commodore in CQC and that they gifted Alex swords and weapons later on.

This is going to cause yet another Noodle Incident.
Last edited by Durabys on Mon Jul 18, 2016 1:55 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Si vis pacem, para bellum. - If you wish for peace, prepare for war.

Krulle
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by Krulle »

Together with some soldiers to ensure all sowrds,are sheathed and well polished!

(Haven't read yet, will read tomorrow...)
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

ShadowDragon8685
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

Durabys wrote:Oh god.

<snip>

This is going to cause yet another Noodle Incident.
Nah, not really. S'over and done with.

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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by Mr Bojangles »

Another interesting addition, Shadow. I definitely enjoyed the development this provided for the Fragile Sisters. I would offer a piece of con-crit, though. You used the word "grin" or one of its conjugations 48 times in this entry. I saw the word so often that I decided to search to see if I really was seeing it that often and wasn't just overweighting its appearance. I'd recommend using other descriptors for expressions of happiness, humor or general wise-assery ('cause Alex is a huge wiseass).

Certainly looking forward to more. :)

Krulle
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by Krulle »

And I only saw one missing space, being a nitpicker...... Incredible precise work!Yeah. That is cutlery pron, and not my fetish....

Interesting though. Good idea with the two imperial heraldic animals as emblems....
An offer the clans could not refuse, being given an imperial heraldic animal as symbol.
Yet not knowing which...

So, now he can show one sword with both symbols.
One symbol for having befriended Kol'e Blecs, the other for having fathered several Hos'te Blec children....
Special relations ... yes.

A befitting choice.

Will be interesting to see Alex explaining the meaning of the two symbols, and why both relate to him, during an official reception with the high brass and some mingling politicians.
I imagine Kelly disappearing to prevent herself from snorting too loud during that reception. And to hide her flushing bright red face.
And possibly befriending a politicians wife in the restroom during that hiding time....
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

ShadowDragon8685
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

Mr Bojangles wrote:Another interesting addition, Shadow. I definitely enjoyed the development this provided for the Fragile Sisters. I would offer a piece of con-crit, though. You used the word "grin" or one of its conjugations 48 times in this entry. I saw the word so often that I decided to search to see if I really was seeing it that often and wasn't just overweighting its appearance. I'd recommend using other descriptors for expressions of happiness, humor or general wise-assery ('cause Alex is a huge wiseass).

Certainly looking forward to more. :)
Eh, I tend to use the right word for the job. I mean, I could describe someone flashing a "wise-alec half-smile," but isn't that what the word "grin" is for?

Krulle wrote:And I only saw one missing space, being a nitpicker...... Incredible precise work!
Pointing it out would have helped. :P
Yeah. That is cutlery pron, and not my fetish....

Interesting though. Good idea with the two imperial heraldic animals as emblems....
An offer the clans could not refuse, being given an imperial heraldic animal as symbol.
Yet not knowing which...
I don't think you get to be Emperor without being a canny bitch, doubly so when you get to be Emperor because you went and killed the old Emperor. Eighth Dawn had to be one brilliant sonofabitch.
Will be interesting to see Alex explaining the meaning of the two symbols, and why both relate to him, during an official reception with the high brass and some mingling politicians.
I imagine Kelly disappearing to prevent herself from snorting too loud during that reception. And to hide her flushing bright red face.
And possibly befriending a politicians wife in the restroom during that hiding time....
Hah. I hadn't planned on any politician muckity-mucking in the story, honestly. Maybe...

Krulle
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by Krulle »

ShadowDragon8685 wrote:
Krulle wrote:And I only saw one missing space, being a nitpicker...... Incredible precise work!
Pointing it out would have helped. :P
"Fireblade blinked,looking at Kelly quizzically."
3rd paragraph from the end....
I'm such a nitpicker...

Well, it "earned" me some free books, most of them I already had. (I sent letters to the publisher with errors, and sometimes I got a "replacement book" with the errors corrected (not of any use to me, I've already read the book - still a nice gesture.), or a thank-you letter with a different book from their catalogue. If I were lucky, same genre. If not, one of the many books that don't sell. Even more lucky a yet-unpublished book (happened only once).
ShadowDragon8685 wrote:Hah. I hadn't planned on any politician muckity-mucking in the story, honestly. Maybe...
High-ranked brass are politicians. Just different, in that they do not get elected in general open elections.
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

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Mr Bojangles
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by Mr Bojangles »

ShadowDragon8685 wrote:
Eh, I tend to use the right word for the job. I mean, I could describe someone flashing a "wise-alec half-smile," but isn't that what the word "grin" is for?
<wise-alec half-smile> You can probably guess my answer, but, anecdotally, I can make a whole range of facial expressions beyond grinning to express my emotional state. </wise-alec half-smile>

(I relate to Alex on a very deep level and no offense was meant :))

ShadowDragon8685
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

BTW, for anyone who was wondering, I got nerd-sniped by a certain earworm.



And so I've been writing this.

Sooner or later I'll either play a critical mass of Stellaris, or Arioch will release page 113, and I'll be back to the races. :P

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sunphoenix
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by sunphoenix »

ShadowDragon8685 wrote:BTW, for anyone who was wondering, I got nerd-sniped by a certain earworm.



And so I've been writing this.

Sooner or later I'll either play a critical mass of Stellaris, or Arioch will release page 113, and I'll be back to the races. :P
Yep, love that movie! Especially the fact the "princess" needed no prince to save her... only her own Courage, Love, and Self-sacrifice! Great movie! Though I still think Jasmine of Aladdin is the sexist of ALL Disney femme heroines!

Reading your fanfic.... so That's what you've been writing all this time! :) I think Jack Frost of the 'Rise of the Guardians', would be a good friend of the two sisters... and he's playful enough to keep them both anchored in humanity. But I'm not sure that RotG is a Disney production... so them m eeting in film will probably never happen.
Last edited by sunphoenix on Sun Jul 24, 2016 12:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
PbP:
[IC] Deep Strike 'Lt' Kamielle Lynn
[IC] Cydonia Rising/Tempest Sonnidezi Stormrage
[IC] Incursion Maiannon Golden Hair
[IC] TdSmR Athen Rourke

"...you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is Kill him."

ShadowDragon8685
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Re: What to Do with Jardin (Fan Fic)

Post by ShadowDragon8685 »

sunphoenix wrote:
ShadowDragon8685 wrote:BTW, for anyone who was wondering, I got nerd-sniped by a certain earworm.



And so I've been writing this.

Sooner or later I'll either play a critical mass of Stellaris, or Arioch will release page 113, and I'll be back to the races. :P
Yep, love that movie! Especially the fact the "princess" needed no prince to save her... only her own Courage, Love, and Self-sacrifice! Great movie! Though I still think Jasmine of Aladdin is the sexist of ALL Disney femme heroines!
Have to disagree with you there. Ayala Secura gets my top pick. Then Rey, Elsa, Anna, and Padme.
Last edited by ShadowDragon8685 on Sun Jul 24, 2016 12:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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