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

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

Post by bunnyboy »

She got her own tentacles. :twisted:
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TrashMan
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by TrashMan »

dragoongfa wrote:Author's Random Ramblings:

Naming characters

Naming character is personally the hardest thing when writing for me. :ugeek:



She got her own tentacles. :twisted:
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

TrashMan wrote:
dragoongfa wrote:Author's Random Ramblings:

Naming characters

Naming character is personally the hardest thing when writing for me. :ugeek:
It's hard, make no mistake, picking a name is probably the hardest part when you want to build a primary character, since a primary character is there to stay in the spotlight the name must also be such; the problem is that the name really doesn't matter when you think about it.

The name itself is just a label, it doesn't mean anything beyond the vague meaning of each name. Some names are funny in that, others have a deep meaning and some times names may fit a person's personality and life but most of the times humans don't pay much attention to names and instead focus on each character's action and those are what really give a meaning to the name. For this reason the ancient Greeks used to get their permanent name in late adolescence, a name that reflected their personality through their actions.

Some writers give names that 'fit' the actions of each character. I personally choose to give arbirtrary names that gain meaning through each characters actions.

When someone thinks about it, that's how names work in modern real life as well and that's how certain names have gained dominance throughout the years. For example 'George' used to be a very rare name in Greece and elsewhere but once a certain legend of a dragon slayer Christian saint gained prominence then the name really took hold and became one of the most prominent names in the Western world.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Chapter 1, Part 2

From antiquity one facet of military organizations helped innumerable soldiers maintain their discipline, focus and sanity. It was simple to the point of absurdity but the truth was that morale always stayed stable when the routine schedule of a unit remained stable. For some reason and despite human nature, military personnel are most stable when they know that their schedule is kept to the letter. From the lowliest soldier, to the highest ranking generals, everyone preferred the predictability of a tightly kept schedule over the sloppy uncertainty of doing things as they go.
Captain Asteios was no exception to this rule. He would wake up at 5:30am, he would clean and shave himself by 5:45, he would be fully dressed by 5:55, he would have finished eating his breakfast at the mess hall by 6:15 and he would always be at the bridge at 6:25 in order to be briefed by the night shift officer before assuming command at exactly 6:30. Those who haven’t felt the same amount of responsibilities on their shoulders would never understand it but the stability that this scheduled routine offered was one of the reasons he could keep himself focused whenever he felt the sheer weight of the mission at hand.

Matveyev was in the middle of its unscheduled survey of that devastated system. He brought up the system’s map, barely managing to beat back a sigh as he glanced the name he had given it just a day and a half ago. He had done so in order to help motivate his crew but now, after seeing everything that this system had to show, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed at his badly timed and placed motivational prank. Looking at the numerous grey blips throughout the star map, each single blip indicating a dead hulk and gutted space station, he couldn’t help but remember the images of the cratered cities that he had seen yesterday. Deciding that seeing all that was more than enough to motivate everyone he brought up the star system’s temporary records and deleted the name and its explanatory note.

He leaned back on his chair trying to come up with something appropriate but he couldn’t. He let the name field blank and wrote ‘Nothing seems appropriate’ as an explanatory note before saving the altered records. The computer automatically filled the blank name with the initial, computer generated, abstract alpha numerical tag and made a mental note to come up with something appropriate before leaving the system.

The blue blip that marked the returning shuttle drew his attention when he was done with the name and checked the preliminary reports from the first EVA survey of a dead space station that he had ordered yesterday. The first thing that the reports mentioned was that the space station was looted after being destroyed by weapons fire. There were clear signs that the station’s systems had been meticulously dismantled and taken off station, but what was odd was the fact that the machinery of the station was dismantled in a far less meticulous manner and was missing; while whatever couldn’t be moved was destroyed with explosives.

He could understand the computer systems, since they could hold valuable information that could help the war effort but the machinery perplexed him since both the Loroi and the Umiak should have far better tech than what the Tithric used to have.

He brought up the next segment of the report which had up close images of the numerous hits the station received from what looked like an energy weapon. The report written by the engineer in charge of the survey, Lieutenant Francois Litteauer also had disheartening information about the station’s armor. The alloys used in its construction looked similar to the alloys used in the light armor of the Orgus freighter, which were somewhat stronger that the alloys used by TCA warships. More disheartening was the fact that the station’s armor was as thick as a Heavy Cruiser’s and yet it barely provided any protection against the weapons that struck the station. The lieutenant also made an assumption of the nature of the weapons used in the destruction of the station, saying that it should be some short of plasma projector. The report closed with the mention that some alloy samples and some small pieces of electronic equipment were taken for further study above Matveyev.

Good man… The Captain thought and begun to check the reports of the everyday workings of Matveyev before a blinking intercom call message drew his attention. Without thinking he pressed accept and the image of Ensign Andrei Bessonov filled his screen. The ensign offered a hasty salute and waited for the captain to return it.

“What is it ensign?” The Captain asked as he did so.

“Sir, my team and I would like to inform you that we found something interesting while looking through the points of interest reports.” Remembering that he had occupied the off duty ensigns by dumping on them the tens of thousands of seemingly unimportant reports about potential points of interest, he couldn’t help but feel curious about what they found that they would alert him directly.
“Go on.”

“I am sending it to you right now, Sir.” An alert flashed on his screen and he opened the message.

“What I am looking at exactly?” Captain Asteios asked as he glanced through the images of a small cloud of metallic debris near the edge of the star system’s asteroid field.

“Sir, that particular debris is recent.”

“What?”

“Check the infrared spectrum of the images, Sir.” Ensign Bessonov replied and Captain Asteios did so and instantly all of the bits and pieces of debris stood out with a warm yellow color.

“They are still warm.”

“Warmer than anything else in the system, Sir.” Ensign Bessonov replied. “We checked.”

“This means that whatever happened there happened recently. Do you have a timeframe estimate?” The Captain asked.

“I am sorry Sir, but we will need to examine them up close for that.” The ensign replied.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention ensign.” The Captain said and looked as the ensign closely, noticing for the first time that he was unshaved while looking like he hadn’t slept at all.” How
long have you been going through those reports ensign?”

“I don’t know Sir, what time is it?” The Ensign said as he looked at something off screen. “A little less than 12 hours, Sir.” The ensign replied with embarrassment.

“And I think that your next shift starts in a few minutes…” The Captain shook his head at that. “You and your team can go and hit the rack, your next shift will start in 8 hours.”

“Thank you, Sir.” The ensign’s face immediately lit up with relief at that.

“And ensign, next time make sure you are shaved before addressing a superior officer.”

“Yes, Sir, I am sorry, Sir.”

Closing the call Captain Asteios made a couple of quick calls about the last minute shift changes, feeling regret about disrupting the schedule of others but the ensigns deserved some sleep for their efforts. After closing those calls he opened the system map again.

The debris field that ensign Bessonov and his team had found was nearby, just a couple of hours away if Matveyev turned and maintained its current speed. The returning shuttle was closer, just shy of half an hour away from it. He sent the coordinates to the shuttle, ordering them to proceed and investigate it up close while Matveyev would meet up with them there.
He leaned back on his chair and thought about that debris, it was obvious that it would be something from either the Loroi or the Umiak and all things considered it was a far better prospect for meaningful salvage than the decades old and looted hulks adrift throughout the system.

Chapter 1, Part 3: http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 323#p18323
Last edited by Guest on Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:54 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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

Post by dragoongfa »

Chapter 1, part 3

Lieutenant Francois Litteauer was at first annoyed about his new orders since their current sojourn into the system had already lasted more than 14 hours, 5 of which were in EVA, examining that destroyed space station. His mood however changed when the Captain explained the situation.

Debris that was still warm meant that it was recent and that meant that it would certainly come from either a Loroi or Umiak vessel. Even a basic alloy sample would offer amazing insights into the technology of races that were space faring and FTL capable for thousands of years. Examining up close a debris field that could be all that remained of a destroyed ship was something that could not be ignored, even if the surviving pieces were too small to draw some initial attention to them, since even such small pieces could shed some light into the technology of these two superpowers.

Now, as he floated amidst the debris field he was both delighted for the opportunity and resigned as everything that floated around him looked like some short of green painted armor. What he wouldn’t give for even a small fragment of circuitry but at least he got the alloy samples he wanted while the rest of his five man team checked the various bits and pieces that drifted around.

“What do you think Lieutenant?” Captain Asteios’s voice surprised him. Remembering that the Matveyev was still a little distant he accounted for the time lag during their conversation.

“Sir, beyond the various alloy samples we have already taken there is nothing of worth here.” He waited for a few seconds for the reply to come.

“What do you think happened there?”

“Sir, I believe that this is not the result of a battle. We would see a larger and far more varied amount of debris if that was the case, we also haven’t seen anything that looks like weapons scorch marks on anything that we have examined.” He picked up the datapad he had tied to his waist and sent a message to Matveyev. “With some quick calculations taking into account the orientation and speed of the debris, I think that it came from this asteroid at the edge of the asteroid field. It could be that a ship collided with it and bits of its armor ended up drifting away from the asteroid due to its low gravity.” Once again he waited for a few seconds for the reply to come.

“I want you and your team to go have a look at that asteroid, Lieutenant.” The Captain ordered.

“Yes, Sir.”

No one bothered to take off their space suit once they got back into the shuttle, everyone knowing that they would probably have to do another EVA walk if they found something on that asteroid. The lieutenant just sat at the co-pilots seat, next to 2nd Lieutenant Altti Viranko who piloted the shuttle.

“I don’t see anything on the asteroid from where we are.” Viranko commented.

“If my calculations are correct the impact site should be at the other side of the asteroid.” Lieutenant Litteauer replied.

“Ah yes, I forgot that asteroids rotate the same way as planets. Do we have any idea for how long that debris has been adrift?”

“8 days, give or take.”

“8 days? If there is something worth finding we will find it, not enough time for someone else to come and loot anything of worth.” Viranko commented.

“I hope so.” Lieutenant Litteuer replied wishfully.

Flying towards and around the asteroid in order to reach the estimated impact site took them only a couple of minutes and what they found was underwhelming.

“That doesn’t look like the impact site of a ship.” Viranko commented as they both looked to what looked like a grazed off hilltop.

“More like someone got too close and grazed their ship on the asteroid.” Lieutenant Litteauer agreed.

“Only an idiot would go that close to an asteroid on a whim so…” Viranko said outloud.

“They were either hiding or running from something.”

“If they were hiding and hit the asteroid by accident then their pilot is an idiot for going that close but if they were running from something and tried to use the asteroid as cover from someone who was too close then it would make sense to go as close as possible and use the shape of the asteroid as cover.” Virankov commented.

“If that’s the case they had only one alternative to escape.”

“The asteroid field.” Viranko nodded while both of them looked at the dense asteroid field just a couple of dozen kilometers away from them.

Lieutenant Litteauer then opened a channel to Matveyev and waited for a reply.

“What is it lieutenant? You found something?” The Captain asked.

“Almost nothing sir, only what looks like evidence of a ship grazing the asteroid.” The lieutenant replied while sending an image of what they were seeing.

“What do you think?”

“Both 2nd Lieutenant Viranko and I believe that whoever did this was running from something.”

“And if they were running they would go someplace to hide as well.” Viranko commented.

“The asteroid field.” Captain Asteios replied after some thought.

“Yes sir, we are requesting permission to enter the field to investigate such a possibility.” Virankov replied.

“How much fuel do you have left?”

“A little more than a quarter of a tank sir, 5 hours.” Viranko replied.

“You have an hour to go in and investigate but be advised that the electromagnetic interference from the asteroids may disrupt your systems and you may lose contact with Matveyev. If that happens you may proceed on your own but under no circumstances you are to endanger yourselves or the shuttle.”

“Yes, Sir.” Viranko acknowledged and the Captain cut off the connection.

“He seems on edge.” Viranko commented.

“He doesn’t want to return to Earth without coming in contact with someone.” Lieutenant Litteauer replied.

“No one thought that we would find something important enough that we will have to return it to Earth but now…”

“Yeah, no one would like it if that happened but we all know what’s at stake.”

Entering the asteroid field took them only 5 minutes, 10 minutes later they completely lost contact with Matveyev due to the interference and it took them 25 more minutes of fruitless search before running into what they were looking for.

“What in the devil’s name happened here?” Lieutenant Litteauer said out loud as he tried to take in what they were looking at.

“Looks like they found each other but I don’t think that we will find anything that will make us go back to Earth.” Viranko replied.

The signs from battle in front of them were clear as day. Clouds of hot and glistening metal filled the sizable opening between 4 large asteroids in front of the shuttle. The asteroid themselves sporting numerous craters from stray shots; one of them missing a sizable chunk as well.

“Antimatter explosion, big one if it managed to disintegrate that much.” Lieutenant Litteauer commented.

“According to the Orgus both the Loroi and the Umiak have anti matter reactors.”

“Antimatter missiles as well but I don’t want to imagine a missile that can do that much damage.” Lieutenant Litteauer replied.

“A ship’s reactor going critical then?”

“Looks like and antimatter explosions don’t leave a lot of salvage.” Lieutenant Litteauer agreed.

“We still have twenty minutes, let’s see if we can find anything.” Viranko commented.

Twenty minutes passed fruitlessly with only small pieces of charred metal to be found on the two asteroid they circled around. When time was up both 2nd Lieutenant Viranko and Lieutenant Litteauer agreed to at least circle the other two asteroids once before going back to Matveyev. When they were about to finish circling the third asteroid Lieutenant Litteauer saw something and pointed at it.

“Let’s have a look at that canyon before flying around the last asteroid.”

“It looks deep and I doubt that any debris got down there.” Viranko replied.

“We don’t have to go at its bottom, just fly us over it.” The Lieutenant insisted.

“Fine.”

“It looks like you were right…” Lieutenant Litteauer said after a minute.

“Told you…” Something then drew Viranko’s attention. “Wait what’s that?”

“It looks like something big grazed that side of the canyon with a downward…There!” Lieutenant Litteauer cried out in triumph when he saw what was at the bottom of the canyon, partially hidden in a large crevice.

“How the hell did they manage to get it in there?” Viranko asked.

“Desperation, dumb luck, who knows. All I know is that we have to go back to Matveyev to report this.”

Chapter 2, Part 1: http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 392#p18392
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dragoongfa
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Phew, that's the end of Chapter 1.

Also forgot to say that comments are always appreciated.

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

Post by zircher »

Fun stuff! Minor nitpick, he probably tied it to his waist and not his waste. The latter would be rather nasty. :-)

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

Post by dragoongfa »

zircher wrote:Fun stuff! Minor nitpick, he probably tied it to his waist and not his waste. The latter would be rather nasty. :-)
Thanks, for some reason I always mistake the two spellings :oops:

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

Post by Whale »

Interesting stuff.

Though I have to say "Fransua" sound silly. I'd recommend sticking with "Francois".

And asteroids with EM emissions? If they're mostly iron, I can see EM interference happening but "EM emission" sounds like it's giving off major radiation. :P Also spotted "think" instead of "thick" when talking about the asteroid field.

I could also say something about a thick asteroid field, but meh, it's not that hard scifi. :P

Anyway, fun read, hope you continue.

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

Post by dragoongfa »

Whale wrote:Interesting stuff.

Though I have to say "Fransua" sound silly. I'd recommend sticking with "Francois".
I hate French (the language although the people are annoying too) for a reason.
And asteroids with EM emissions? If they're mostly iron, I can see EM interference happening but "EM emission" sounds like it's giving off major radiation. :P
Mostly iron with a mix of some exotic materials mixed in that give off some radiation that screws up with certain systems, nothing life threatening (unless someone hugs an Uranium deposit with just a space suit) but it does annoy anyone who may end up looking for something in there. Will try to better explain it later.
Also spotted "think" instead of "thick" when talking about the asteroid field.
I am starting to also hate English and I am good at it.
I could also say something about a thick asteroid field, but meh, it's not that hard scifi. :P
True, not hard scifi, but the explanation is plausible and it will be mentioned later (probably in the next chapter) that such a densely packed asteroid field (it's a field, not a belt like the one between Mars and Jupiter) should have produced a planet already and in fact it gets close enough to do so when the orbits of the two gas giants that it's caught between are keeping the gas giants away from each. However every few thousand years the two gas giants get close, concurrent orbits and the planet that was beginning to form breaks apart again. The story takes place in a period where the gravitational forces are from the two gas giants are breaking the field apart.
Anyway, fun read, hope you continue.
Thanks, will do.

EDIT:

Also 'autocorrect' should be renamed 'autocowreck'.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Would there not be a navigational buoy in this solar system? They're automated, and can contain information. Or would the Loroi destroy them as well?

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Mr.Tucker wrote:Would there not be a navigational buoy in this solar system? They're automated, and can contain information. Or would the Loroi destroy them as well?
The Loroi completely destroyed the key infrastructure of the Tithric, in order to negate its use by the Umiak. If they thought that something could contain valuable information they would take it away with them, nav buoys would certainly fall in the infrastructure category and they would certainly hold information that the Loroi would want.

If the Loroi didn't destroy something or taken it away for intelligence purposes, someone else already went over everything with a fine toothcomb looking for anything that could be jury rigged in order to keep ships that don't receive spare parts running just a bit longer.
SpoilerShow
Some Loroi strategists left some things intact in the system in order for the Umiak to be tricked into investing resources in building a forward outpost and staging ground, thus allocating ships there from elsewhere. Considering the size of the former Tithric space the Loroi would still be able to detect fleets with Farsense from far enough away that they would be able to easily interdict an attack fleet long before it would get close to Loroi space.

When that outpost would grow big enough the Loroi would surround it and destroy it with overwhelming force.

The Loroi were perplexed when the Umiak not only didn't fall for it but that they also looted and destroyed whatever was left intact. The reasons as to why they did that would not be understood until the Loroi went on the offensive in the Semoset campaign

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Chapter 2, part 1

If death was to come for them, it would be quick and painless. Every last of the 93 survivors aboard the Imperial destroyer Silverspear knew this. Their ship was crippled, with its main reactor knocked out of commission, life support and some gravity barely maintained by connecting the small reactors of the two shuttles into those systems. With careful control of the energy output they could last for a month or so before running out of fuel but in a pinch they could perhaps power some more systems for a limited amount of time. Even then however it wouldn’t do them any good, it wouldn’t be enough to power even a single weapon; for all intents and purposes Silverspear was dead. The damage was too extensive; only a dedicated repair ship could bring it back into flying condition and it was doubtful that a rescue flotilla would have one with it, if such a rescue flotilla ever came for them.

The ship was one of the new Warhammer class of destroyers and despite the young age of the design very few new technologies were incorporated into it. Despite that fact it would be an ideal target for the Umiak to capture if they found them. The Shells would certainly blow them up if they thought that they still had power but a ship without power was an ideal target to capture. They knew that the Umiak would board them to take the ship and they had taken the necessary precautions. If they came for them in force they would detonate the remaining anti matter missiles, leaving the Shells nothing but dust. That defiance even in the face of death also gave them some comfort.

For the youngest warriors among them, the ones who had barely finished their training and dreamed of glory since the moment their initiation was complete and were allowed to wear their warrior armors for the first time. For them, this would be the only chance to come to blows with the enemy. They knew that they would get to fight the Shells in the small amount of time that they would have before the missiles detonated; it would be a fleeting moment of glory but it would be theirs.

For the veterans, it would be one last chance to vent their rage for everything that the Umiak had done in the past, they were the ones who were still young when the war started and the memories of it shaped their very souls. They are the ones who remembered the desperate struggle and the fall of Seren, the Tithric campaign and the liberation of Seren at the beginning of Semoset. The memories of what they found at Seren and elsewhere giving further fuel to the hate they felt for the enemy.

The older ones, the ones like herself; were different but they still felt comfort in the thought of one last battle, each for their own deep and far less clear reasons. Many wanted to take one last Shell with them as penance for all the battles that they had lost early in the war. Others were like the younger veterans, seething with rage not only for the Umiak but with themselves as well for believing themselves invincible when they weren’t. Then there were the few that just wanted to wash away the regrets that plagued them since the beginning of the war.
For them those regrets were made worse in their current situation; where they waited either for salvation from the hands of an Imperial rescue fleet or death if the Umiak stumbled upon their hidden ship. It was this maddening duality of life and death that made the regrets worse.

Shadowcloud opened her eyes and sighed as she tried to empty her mind once again. She looked down at her armor, it’s dark Mizol colors looking pitch black in the perpetual dim light that the emergency lighting offered. Without thinking she activated her armor’s insignia lights, the bright ruby red light blinding her momentarily. She smiled when the pleasant memories that accompanied that armor came back to her and frowned when the accompanying regrets came immediately after them.

It was when these regrets flooded her that she was thankful for her Lotai training; the ability to mask her thoughts and feelings from the others. It wouldn’t be good for them to feel her regrets; she was the oldest warrior on the ship after all. In fact she was the oldest warrior in the squadron that was sent to investigate the former Tithric-Umiak border.
Thinking of her age brought back even more bad memories, she remembered how decades ago the Mizol delegation she was part of was laughed out of the Imperial throne room when they petitioned the previous emperor to allow and fund Mizol operations in order to investigate the Umiak Hierarchy.

They thought that it was a logical and pragmatic request. The empire knew very little about the Umiak Hierarchy and their capabilities; the Mizol believed that this lack of knowledge should be addressed and that the empire should launch covert operations in order to unearth everything that the Shells were hiding behind their iron curtain.
Greywind herself was the one who led the delegation and petitioned the emperor but the emperor and the other castes didn’t listen. They couldn’t or perhaps didn’t want to believe that the Shells could be a threat to the Empire. Their pride didn’t allow them to even contemplate a possible inadequacy of their martial prowess against anything that the Hierarchy could throw against them. The memories of how the entire chamber laughed at their arguments flooded her mind; she saw again Greywind’s face distort from anger her nearly perfect Lotai being the only thing that stopped her from challenging the entirety of the laughing chamber into a duel. Greywind and the others stayed their hands and with what dignity they had left excused themselves.
Shadowcloud always regretted not saying or doing something there and then, something, anything would be better than the unanswered ridicule. Those regrets were made worse with the advent of the war. Perhaps if she…

She sighed and closed her armor’s insignia lights. There was nothing that could be done then. The other warrior castes saw the petition as an insult to themselves even before Greywind had finished the first draft of her speech to the Emperor. Somehow they had twisted the worries of the Mizol into a Mizol dig into their martial capabilities. It was maddening to think that their ego came before even the most logical arguments.

If they had pushed it further, if they had challenged the others into duels as their honor demanded then the Mizol would find themselves completely isolated and alone. The other castes had always seen their ways with disdain and distrust; any misstep it that delicate situation would have resulted into bloodshed and perhaps even a civil war.

A decade later, when the worst fears of the Mizol became a reality, millions paid the price of that laughter with their lives. The Shells were a far more dangerous foe than any Loroi thought and their first attacks were overwhelming. When the Imperial flagship was destroyed every Loroi saw it for what it was, an unparalleled catastrophe where the Emperor and the entirety of her cabinet was killed leaving the Empire leaderless in the time of its greatest peril.

The Mizol of that delegation however saw it for what it was; a vindication. They dared not say it, they dared not even think about it, but deep inside them, hidden behind every mental barrier they could muster, they saw it as the just punishment for the ones who put their pride before reason. Their only regrets being that the Empire had bled a lot because of their folly.

Chapter 2, part 2 : http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 448#p18448
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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Author's Random Ramblings

Well, after a relatively bad week and scrapping the initial draft of the second chapter I finally released the next part of the story.

If time permits I should be able to write and post the next part by Saturday and the third part by Sunday.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Whale »

Yay.

I wonder what a Bennet makes of 116% increase in life support strain...

But why the loroi had any artificial gravity on?

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Whale wrote:Yay.

I wonder what a Bennet makes of 116% increase in life support strain...

But why the loroi had any artificial gravity on?
Both the life support and the gravity systems are working at half capacity (than what would be needed to properly support 93 Loroi) to conserve as much energy as possible, the air is beginning to get foul and the gravity is supplemented by the asteroids own. A warrior wouldn't even think of complaining about the air and the seemingly wobbly gravity.

As to why, they are landed on an Iron asteroid, it has some gravity but not enough to keep the ship stable in place if someone carpet bombed all surrounding asteroids out of spite. By manipulating the output of the gravity systems they have put an anchor in place.

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Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by dragoongfa »

Chapter 2, part 2

The air smelled foul and the corridors themselves were barely lit by the faint emergency lights, spreading her mind she realized that she was alone in that part of the ship; the others huddled around in a couple of places. Normally there would be a dozen or so warriors this far away from the others in order to calm their minds just like she always did. She felt relief to be completely alone; it was comforting for one such as her in the situation she had found herself in. It wasn’t that she didn’t desire company, she craved it now more than ever but the sole company that she could have were warriors and not farseers like herself. It was true that in the midst of this war she found herself among warriors far more often than those of her own caste; she knew from early on that their ways of thinking were different and she got used to theirs quickly. It was the nature of her gifts that made them weary and uncomfortable around her, farseers could easily overwhelm them if they were not careful. That meant that they had to constantly be on their guard in order not to cause any harm to them. Out of the warrior castes only the Teidar and the Mizol could understand that simple fact and she was thankful that she had at least Shadowcloud and the other four Teidar to confide to. They were still warriors but they could at least understand how each other felt.

As Farseer Calmwater walked forward she contemplated if that was the only reason she walked among the empty corridors alone. It was true that farseers and normal Loroi didn’t like to be in each other’s company for long but in the situation they had found themselves in, the others had banded together; seemingly forgetting castes, ranks and past prejudices, they even joked about such things amongst themselves. Perhaps the reason of her self-imposed solitude was the fact that she wasn’t a warrior; the others, despite their caste and age differences had that in common, she didn’t. Perhaps it was the situation itself that made her want to avoid staying close to the others; she was afraid of what they thought about her after everything that happened and she didn’t know if they would be right or wrong in whatever conclusion they would come to.

Farseers weren’t warriors, they never were and never would be. Since antiquity their telepathic gifts were just too strong even for other Loroi to keep at bay; the farseers had quickly learned how to limit themselves in order not to harm others but the warriors always kept their guard around them. Only with the advent of technology were the farseers drawn out of their solitude and given a purpose; first to breech interstellar distance and communicate with each other and then to see life among the stars and warn their fellows about it. Two duties that the farseers have maintained for millennia; she couldn’t help but think that she failed at both of them.

Was it really her's and the other's fault? Or was it something that the Umiak had somehow done as Shadowcloud suspected. The Mizol Torimor had confided to her, after everything that happened; that their mission was to find out if the Umiak had managed to find a way to hide themselves from farseers. Shadowcloud told her that one of the picket squadrons that were placed amidst former Tithric space had disappeared without a single communiqué by their farseer; losing a ship on a freak accident without a warning was possible but an entire squadron suddenly disappearing from farsense was something that could not be ignored. Another squadron was hastily assembled and given eight experienced farseers in order to investigate the former Umiak-Tithric border. At first it sounded like an ordinary intelligence mission that happened regularly in the war, the farseers would sense the life signs within Umiak territory and would report whatever looked like trade or military activity to the higher ups to do what they wished with the information.

They should have realized early on that an intelligence officer of Shadowcloud’s caliber would never be sent on a routine mission. They didn’t realize it but that didn’t mean that they were lax in their duties, all eight of them took turns in the amplifiers and they saw nothing as they approached the former Umiak-Tithric border. They didn’t sense anything when an entire Umiak fleet suddenly stood in their path as if they were waiting for them, the farseers were immediately ordered to alert the empire to the fact but they couldn’t, something just got in the way every time the others tried to contact anyone.

The Umiak rushed at them and after the first exchange of fire the squadron was nearly torn to shreds and the others were killed, seven of the most experienced farseers in the sector died in an instant when the amplifier compartment was destroyed by a direct hit. She was just lucky she wasn’t there when that happened.

She remembered hearing Shadowcloud scream in sanzai if a farseer was still alive, her message easily discernible throughout Black Sword, the command cruiser that they were on at the time. She remembered how relieved Shadowcloud’s reply was when she replied that she was still alive. The Mizol ordered her to go to a specific outer airlock, sending her Teidar escorts to find her and help her along the way. When they got there they found Shadowcloud overseeing the hasty loading of various machine parts on a shuttle that had just got there.

The Mizol hastily explained what was about to happen. The remainder of the squadron would hold the Umiak back for as long as they could, while they would run away on board a destroyer and jump out of the system, hoping that whatever the Umiak were doing to stop their farseeing communications would remain in the system. Shadowcloud’s three Teidar bodyguards were apprehensive at first but Shadowcloud coldly told them that the Empire must learn of this and everything would be in vain if they failed to do that. She cut in, telling Shadowcloud that without the necessary equipment it would be impossible to contact anyone and only command class vessels had it. Shadowcloud just waved at the equipment that was frantically being loaded and it was then that she realized that they were amplifier spare parts.

She barely managed to look back at Black Sword as they left it behind. It was obvious to even her amateur eyes that the ship was not going to offer much resistance. Numerous plasma focus hits had tore through her, one of them undoubtedly was the one who killed the other farseers; the last thing she saw as they turned away from it was the completely destroyed shuttle bay and the missing port engine.

The ship they were heading to was a destroyer, perhaps the only ship left intact in the squadron. The Silverspear begun it’s mad dash back to the jump point they came from the moment the shuttle touched down in its shuttle bay. She immediately went to work, coordinating the assembly of a farseeing amplifier with the spare parts that they had taken. She didn’t have to use her gifts to know that the others were looking at what was unfolding behind them. She wanted to focus at the work at hand but she couldn’t help but feel the other ships die one after the other before they jumped away.

It took them some time but they managed to jury rig an amplifier together but she still couldn’t contact anyone and there wasn’t an Umiak ship in the system. They raced at full speed to the next jump point, seeing a lone Umiak medium jump into the system after them. They all thought that they could easily outrun it; a Loroi destroyer was easily faster than any Umiak medium. They jumped again and she could still not contact anyone. What was even worse was the fact that the Umiak ship arrived in the system far earlier than it should be. Somehow the Umiak ship was faster than them, with an acceleration that was one and a half times that of Silverspear . Shadowcloud speculated that the medium had overcharged its engines somehow and it took them so long to send it against them because the Umiak transferred as much fuel as they could to it before sending it after them.

It was obvious that they would soon be overtaken and it was safe to assume that whatever the Umiak were doing would stop if their lone pursuer was gone. Soroin Torret Darkwing, Silverspear’s commanding officer, laid a trap for the enemy ship amidst a dense asteroid field. The fight was brief and brutal; using the element of surprise Silverspear came out of it victorious but not unscathed. The damage was significant and more than half of the crew was dead. What was worse the reactor was unstable and they barely managed to shut it down after they hastily hid Silverspear on an asteroid. They couldn’t fix it and without a reactor there was simply not enough power to even call out for help, how much to warn the Empire about the new Umiak capability.

Shadowcloud had told her that it was unreasonable to blame herself over everything that happened; yet as she unfolded the events over and over again in her mind she couldn’t help but somehow find herself at fault. Perhaps it was the way of thinking of the Farseers that made her blame herself; out of every caste they were the only ones with such a profound impact to society. To suddenly find themselves blind and mute was previously unthinkable but now it was a reality to her.

Her mind was still in turmoil when she realized that she was standing idle at the same spot for some time. She began walking back to the others, her mind was still troubled but there was nothing that she could do about it other than hide it as best as she could. As she was returning she heard light footsteps from a nearby corridor and nearly cried out in surprise before remembering that Shadowcloud and the Teidar had a strong enough Lotai to almost hide themselves completely for a limited amount of time. Perhaps one of them was meditating and she wondered if she should go greet whoever it was. She hoped that it was Shadowcloud, some discussion with someone who understood her would do her some good.

Chapter 2, part 3: http://www.well-of-souls.com/forums/vie ... 528#p18528
Last edited by Guest on Sat Mar 21, 2015 5:48 pm, edited 6 times in total.

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

Post by dragoongfa »

Let it be know that from henceforth I won't be making any predictions as to when the next part will be ready.

I scrapped this part twice in the weekend. What I posted above is approx 50% the 'finalized' hand written draft I finished yesterday and 50% last minute changes (that took 2 hours to finalize).

Whale
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2013 3:27 pm

Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Whale »

Heh. Never state stuff with 100% certainty if you can help it.

Now, Teidar, somehow undetected humans or something else?

Sweforce
Posts: 546
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2015 12:00 am

Re: [Fan Fiction] Looking forward to the Mirror

Post by Sweforce »

Keep them coming. This is good stuff. Eventually when more of Ariochs story comes out, creating more fan stuff will be easier. Right now we just now know to little about the official story and thus much can be invalidated on shoft notice. What do we know, somewhere in chapter 2 Alex could point to a third part pitting the Loroi and Umiak against each other and realising that they suddenly make peace and the war is over. We cannot know. Hopefully we will learn more of the setting soon enough.

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