Writing Prompts

[dragoongfa]

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Which warrior caste a child gets sent to is usually decided by the mother, usually the child follows in the same footsteps unless she is eligible for an other caste as well.

Pre-Unification Mizols filled the roles of the Teidar on Perrein and word of god is that there are still a few strong telekinetics in the Mizol caste for when they are required in various operations. Her eidetic memory isn't really required in Beacons but it serves as an excuse as to why the Mizol went against the Teidar on who would have her since a child who filled all the niches would be an ideal wet works operative.

To be frank I had planned Shadowcloud as an intentional subversion of the Mary Sue trope, she is a strong telekinetic but she used herself as a blow torch and as a construction worker.

Duskcrown needs a counter balance mainly for political reasons, someone who would argue in favor of temperance instead of aggression.

[Werra]

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I'm too lazy to dig out the quote, but telekinetic ability overrides the cast of the mother. Even civilians become Teidar/Mizol and Teidar get preferential treatment if a kid has strength in both. Might be that some Mizol are skilled in both fields.

Argue in favor of temperance instead of aggression.

Yes, Alex. That he's shit at it and faced with a hardliner in charge is no reason he shouldn't try.

[dragoongfa]

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I was thinking more in line with internal politics. An over aggressive sector commander needs a counter balance

[Werra]

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Well, it would be convenient for Alex.

[dragoongfa]

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Not if she is a bitch towards those around him. And she will be that kind of bitch.

[dragoongfa]

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After thinking about it some more I am cutting Shadowcloud out of my proposal as my usual 'the first idea is always stupid' moment.

This needs a more laid down to earth and calculated approach that isn't in her character traits. So we need a Mizol Torimor capable enough to deduce the situation, bitchy and arrogant enough to piss off nearly everyone around Alex and calculative enough to run rings around people.

Anyone wanting to come up with a character?

[Werra]

Does all that have to be done by one character?

Sounds like a lot and we already have so many characters in this story.

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Suggestion: Have Brightshield figure some things out and pass them along to Duskcrowns staff. Then have the largely unnamed staff come up with a means against the Shell Lotai with information Beryl volunteered. The arrogance and bitchiness can come in from Duskcrown.

[Razor One]

Actually, I kind of had a different take on where things might go...

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Have Strike Group 51's Farseer figure it out after being introduced to Alex. The moment that happens he's effectively untouchable since even the hardest of hardliners can't speak against the alien that helped crack the Shell's lotai.

Character wise, I imagine 51's Farseer to be in a bad place mentally speaking, given that the Shell's lotai has made her useless and there's an alien tramping about that she can't sense.

I was considering writing an introduction to her for Beacons; that she's been blind since her diral days and that being blind awakened her farsensing abilities, her main pathos being that she chose to remain blind to be a farseer and help with the war rather than restore her eyesight, and that sensory deprivation in a room-sized amplifier sharpens her ability. Not sure how that'd jive with canon though, the telepathy article doesn't seem to mention the effect of not having all your senses has on telepathic sensitivity or whether sensory deprivation would work to enhance it.

Kind of getting rambly, so gonna stop there.

[entity2636]

@dragoongfa

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Others may disagree, and of course everyone has the right to their opinion, but I just want to say that I do like your idea of introducing Shadowcloud and tying the good Outsiderverse stories that happen around the same time into one large interconnected expanded universe (i.e. like TNG, DS9 and VOY happen essentially at the same time and place, occasionally intersecting, but are their own self contained worlds). To me it signals that people like the setting, like and respect each other's work and do their best to expand the world by keeping it consistent.

However, I think Shadowcloud should appear considerably later in Beacons, and should not be posted at the Tinza sector fleet, rather at a starbase somewhere "safe" and important. At this point in time, if I remember The Mirror correctly, she should either be busy with intelligence or diplomatic work elsewhere and not be aware of the Human Contact, or she is already back from the encounter with the Pellew and is waiting at a starbase somewhere for Stillstorm to chew her out about firing at the Bellarmine.

If you want to link these two novels together, I'd suggest introducing Shadowcloud a bit later and coming at Stillstorm with a court martial inquiry about firing on a TCA exploration vessel. Duskcrown as the sector commander might actually have orders for Stillstorm to appear before a court martial. The orders may not even specify the reason since they came from very high up and might make Stillstorm very nervous, given her track record.

[dragoongfa]

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I think that a telepathic sage of shorts is required in order to figure out what Alex is sensing and how to sense it in turn. Brightshield is simply too young for it and Tempo is too compromised and probably not on the skill level that is needed. Furthermore Duskcrown and Stillstorm will both be very busy with managing the fleet for the defense of Nezel to waste time with something that they are not equipped to handle (Alex will help with some tricks of his own of course).

The character who will deduce the Lotai detection mechanic needs to be a very capable telepath that will invest herself on studying it without succumbing to distractions. Hence a highly experienced Mizol. She doesn't have to be a bitch but I can't imagine a highly capable Mizol not to hammer home how certain someone(s) have messed up with everything that has to do with Alex.

@Razor

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Kinda goes against canon, farseers are extremely powerful telepaths from birth and from what I deduced from Arioch's comments they undergo some short of secret modification, probably cybernetic. Iirc Arioch has also mentioned that there is no way other than amplifying that can boost someone's telepathic potential.

@entity

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I didn't intend to link the two stories per se, more like introducing her as a character because I am too lazy to set up a new character; more like a multiverse setup

In all seriousness though, Mirror and Beacons have several hard differences set up that makes them completely incompatible, the human Lotai in Mirror is artificial and requires dangerous measures in order to be dropped to give an example.

[entity2636]

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I didn't intend to link the two stories per se, more like introducing her as a character because I am too lazy to set up a new character; more like a multiverse setup

In all seriousness though, Mirror and Beacons have several hard differences set up that makes them completely incompatible, the human Lotai in Mirror is artificial and requires dangerous measures in order to be dropped to give an example.

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It's OK and I'm not insisting, rather throwing ideas and suggestions around that could be made to work without tying oneself into impossible knots As for the human Lotai in Mirror and Beacons being two different things - one could say that it's pretty much the same thing, only in Mirror their scientists found the mechanism that makes it work and didn't try to control or break it, but in Beacons they assume it's a natural adaptation and found a way of circumventing and controlling it, but they don't know the mechanics behind it. For all we know, maybe Alex has some sort of mutation to his mitochondria that not every human has that under certain circumstances makes his Lotai controllable.

[Razor One]

@dragoon

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I figured as much, so it makes sense to scratch the extraneous details. Even so, a farseer would fill out the requirements you delineated for someone up above. They're capable telepaths, they'll definitely have both the time and the reason to fully invest into studying the technique without distractions. Just throwing that idea out there.

[dragoongfa]

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Hmm... That can be plausibly done, Tempo can even set up a meeting. This will leave the Sorimi plants from Duskcrown to be bitchy.

[dragoongfa]

Alright, done, sorry for the delay but I work has been crazy lately. I am off to bed as well so I will clean this tomorrow.

[novius]

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Problem is, if they actually could learn Alex's techniques, especially how to sense the hidden Umiak divisions, his immediate value to the Loroi would drop sharply again, especially when they would see humans as inherently dangerous. In fact, they may get the idea to do away with Alex and dissect Beryl's brain, once his Lotai wouldn't prevent them doing so.

[dragoongfa]

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The Loroi couldn't 'learn' the Lotai through Nathan over the span of decades so that will still be in the picture. Alex giving them the ability to detect the Shell Lotai doesn't lessen his usability, it gives them a reason to be grateful as well as partially take away the latest force multiplier of the Umiak which should allow the stabilization of the war effort once the offensive is managed somewhat.

[novius]

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The Loroi couldn't 'learn' the Lotai through Nathan over the span of decades so that will still be in the picture. Alex giving them the ability to detect the Shell Lotai doesn't lessen his usability, it gives them a reason to be grateful as well as partially take away the latest force multiplier of the Umiak which should allow the stabilization of the war effort once the offensive is managed somewhat.

We as the readers know it, but to Alex it presents a much bleaker picture. He learned of a human on Deinar, 400 years ago. How he ended up there is secondary to the fact that the Loroi did everything to dump it into the deepest, darkest hole they could find and cover it up, complete with standing orders to bring any other human or human artifacts right to the highest echelons of their government, in all secrecy, even to hide the specifics from the transporting ship's crews at the least, too. And, while the orders were to deliver him alive and unharmed (though not necessarily in a conscious state), they don't say anything about his fate after his arrival.

Second, he surely hasn't forgotten his initial treatment aboard the Tempest, too. As an isolated incident he could understand their need for operational security - he was a complete unknown, after all - but the looming threat of Duskcrown's orders had done much to damage his trust into the Loroi as a whole and personally, in one instance.

So, while he may get along with individual Loroi quite famously, he has many reasons to be wary of them as a whole, and he may start to hold on to his remaining bargaining chips for the sake of humanity's survival first and his own second. Because he could deduce that the Loroi in charge see humans as a threat and act accordingly. And, come to think of it, he has enough reasons to think the Loroi perceive humans as a threat. Their existence would shake the foundations of their dogma, and individual humans can cause and have caused addiction-like symptoms in Loroi so much that it undermines their discipline, as seen with Tempo.

Stillstorm, SG51 and the Gora Relay crew are surely grateful of his assistance, but that may be all about it.

And Alex himself said that everything coming before the "but" in a sentence is essentially worthless.

In essence, it may be less of a matter of the Loroi's trust in Alex, but his trust in them as a whole, as of recently.

[dragoongfa]

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That still leaves him in a far better spot that in the canonical story. In the canon Alex is a recognized diplomat that should be delivered at the Emperor's flagship but the Umiak assault threw a monkey wrench at it. Unless something happens Alex is in for a rude welcome once he ends up at Seren.

In Beacons Alex is 'protected' by the Emperor's own standing orders and has already given all the help he could offer, if he manages to partially counter the Shell Lotai then the ball is on the Loroi court to consider him and humanity as an ally to the Union.

Alex has every right to have 'trust issues' with the Loroi after everything that happened, I intend to use it as a plot point once proper negotiations start; him wanting some form of guarantee that the Loroi will keep their word.

[Sweforce]

Aha, I happen to think Argent is fantastic and made the right calls at the right time.

Well, it's the same situation as with all horror and thriller movies or novels - if everyone made the right and sensible choices, there wouldn't be a story left I forgot to say that in my previous post

The best horror stories DO depict people that do the right thing, the sensible thing and DO take the correct (as it seem) precautions. They then let these individuals die horribly as a direct result of those actions. Just tack a survival expert onto the group and kill that person first when said person is occupied doing "the sensible thing".

[novius]

New installment of "New Frontiers" is up. Plans are made, lines are drawn. Blood will flow.