The Space Opera Working Thread

reply to post by nenothtu


Yeah, my son and I went to see 'Mud' the other day ---- the preview for the movie you're mentioning was really awesome...and we only saw part of it!!!
Denzel, Will and son....
looked pretty damned cool!!!!

reply to post by nenothtu

We had centipedes here 6 to 8 feet long (arthropleurids), giant salamander looking things everywhere (including some salamanders that looked just like snakes now), and BIG bugs - foot long cockroaches and dragon flies almost 3 feet from wingtip to wingtip (meganeura). 3 foot long scorpions. Nice jungle we had here. Good eatin'.

Ewwwwww I'll keep those critters in mind for the future - and good eatttting too?

Yeah, that would be fun listening to Neno explaining to Newman how 'yum' those scorpions are!


peace

reply to post by silo13


I was thinking more along the lines of the salamander-critters. I'm not big on eating arthropods, because they're, well, yukky! I once saw two Indians make a meal out of roasted tarantulas (arthropods are arthropods, and both spiders and scorpions are arachnids, I think) in the jungle, then pick their teeth with the spiders' fangs. No thanks! None for me - I'm already full!

Now, I HAVE eaten really big salamanders (there is a kind here that lives in the rivers, we call a "grampus", but elsewhere they call them "hellbenders" - BIG salamanders), and they're really not too bad, but I gotta draw the line at stuff that has more than 4 legs!

I just posted a short story here. Some times, a thing will get stuck in your craw and you've just got to hack it out before you can move on.

I expect to be relocating again in a few weeks, and may be off the net for a fairly long while. It depends on whether I'm still able to hit the ground running, and how long it takes to get set up with another laptop and a magic network gizzy for connecting.

I'll try to thrash out another Opera post some time before I take off into the wild green yonder.

reply to post by nenothtu

Good luck with whatever you're up against.

Are you going to write yourself out - or do you want stay in? The reason I ask is I'm thinking about writing myself out - completely. I've got too much respect for the Opera to just let if fade off into oblivion.

On the other hand if you want us to keep Neno 'alive'? At least it would give me something to work with until you get back?

What say you?

peace

Heard from our in-transit friend - write it up he says!

Good news that - though I'm sure everyone knew it but me, lol. Nice collaborating.

Looking forward to Neno's return.

peace

He's baaa-ack!

I'm all set again - maybe - for the time being. Had to finagle some internetting, but here am I. Still got some stuff to get done, but I expect to be back to writing before very long. other than that, all is well.

reply to post by nenothtu

Very cool! Glad you're back.
Sad news? Thought you would be gone longer soooooo - Sslar is...corrupted(?) at this point.
You're more than welcome to come and get her - or not - up to you of course and I'll work around it.

In fact I didn't see this post earlier and sent a U2U to Wild wondering if she was sticking around.

Hope all is well with you!

peace

(Crackle.... high-whine) Er, sorry for the lack of appearance, but due to the fact that
I'm still dealing with 21st century technology, I fell behind... (strange electronic tapping
sound)

I agree with I.T guy at the store that allowing BIAD to pour his mug of Ovaltine into my
laptop was a poor-poor decision.
I blame myself.

But using a computer that boasts a 'crank-handle' on it's side, I and my shed-dwelling
lodger are attempting to get BIAD's 'tale of yore' up to speed.
We'll get there... and if we don't, I blame him.

(Hiss.... crackle, beep)

reply to post by nenothtu

Did you have a thread started on 'Neno's planet'? I looked through your posts and didn't find it.
Why I'm looking - I need some info on what your planet is 'rich' in.
Is there something on the planet that would cause others to covet it - other than the feather in the cap of wrangling it from Neno.
Is it strategically important for some reason?
What makes it 'special' that I can work off of? I'm trying to pull together a couple of story lines and something about that planet would surely make things go smoothly.

I was thinking - maybe - it has to do with the CindyMars teletabs? Some product on the planet that makes them 'work'? But that just doesn't feel right.

Thanks in advance!

QUESTION: What was that beam of light that caused the 'shudder' in the Yydryl? Was it ever explained? I've been going back/reading back through the story line and have failed to find the answer.

Thankers!

peace

reply to post by silo13


Not an entire thread, but a post in the UEF Background Thread to be found here.

Neno doesn't know much about the planet other than the jungles, the climate, and that it will eat you if you're not careful. he knows nothing of the mineral content at all, beyond the crystalline entity mined for in BIAD's posts on the Underground there. There is no reason to preclude any minerals, even made up ones like the "Unobtanium" from the movie "Avatar".

You are limited only by your imagination and the post on Khalamzadar linked above.

My apologies for being slack. I'm working two jobs (started another one today) and time is somewhat limited at the moment. I'll get my scheduled synched soon.

reply to post by silo13


I took that to be a plasma bolt or some sort of ray from an ion cannon located in one of the "abandoned" northern cities, near where we found Wild and lost Dag. I don't think we ever established who was doing the actual shooting, or even that it might have been some long dormant auto defensive screen that suddenly got reactivated.

reply to post by nenothtu

Thanks for your help - it helped a lot. And no apologies!

One last question - somewhere on ATS there's a 'story' you wrote up about a Hatfield and McCoy type family thing Neno was involved in (maybe my U2U)? I’ve got Neno and You-Neno so entertained I don’t remember and it was a while back. Regardless - on that vague information - do you remember this post/content? There’s a back story I’m working on and well, I’ll explain a bit more after I read up on the info above - if it can be found at all.

Thanks and have a great day!

Edit to Add:

I don't think we ever established who was doing the actual shooting, or even that it might have been some long dormant auto defensive screen that suddenly got reactivated.

Auto - defense sounds good and leaves the story well open for a lot more.

Thanks again!

reply to post by silo13


The story in a nutshell is found in this post in the UEF Background Thread. The relevant part says:

Vandalia is a mountainous area rich in minerals and timber, but economically impoverished due to the wealth from those products being transferred to outside interests. The only other major export of Vandalia is fighting men, who are produced by the boatload in the harsh economic environment. Nenothtu was forged in the crucible of the "Clan Wars" of Vandalia of the late 23rd century, in which extended family groups, or "Clans" were pitted against other extended family groups in a struggle over control of the area's resources. Those wars were fueled, funded, and fostered by the outside interests mentioned above, who had a vested interest in retaining control of the wealth-producing products of the region, and keeping the wealth out of the hands of the locals.

Nenothtu left Vandalia as an already battle-scarred veteran of those wars in 2290, at the age of 19, after his entire family had been wiped out in a series of attacks by the competing Taggart Clan, which didn't survive as a viable entity either. Well, not after neno had hunted down and finished the Taggart survivors, one at a time, over the course of several months. He appeared to be a young man completely devoid of remorse, and dedicated to duty as he perceived it.

In the matter of the "auto defense" shield, I would presume it is something left over from the days before the Zombie Apocalypse that shattered the Khalamzadar civilization amidst the ruins of a war-torn and ravaged planet.

That story is contained in the Rebo posts in the story thread, but I can't recall just exactly where they are within the thread. The basics are that a planet in the throes of a perpetual religious war developed a WMD that zombiefied the opposition population, but the virus was not properly contained, and instead attacked ALL the people on the planet, including the culture that created it. That left a deserted planet in ruins, dead cities speaking mutely to the sky amidst the inevitable takeover of the rain forests when no one was left to keep them in check.

Thanks for the reference link Neno.

I'm posting this here for easy access and to ask a couple a questions.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/8e569880f195.jpg[/atsimg]

Thanks again!

Added note: I stuck in the post where Neno meets Argus and Flint. I'll separate Neno from Newman in the next post as not to interfere with what you have planned for Neno who - as you said to me - is going after Sslar.

I wonder how that's going to work out now that Sslar is 'bound' to Queen Mag? Though I've no doubt Neno has something up his sleeve for that.

peace

reply to post by silo13


Are you two referring to the beams that melted the Deson Fighter?

We did determine that Wild and Alaag are the ones who were using it to wrangle space junk to the surface; that's what they built their "airship" out of.

I don't remember a plasma "bolt", though, that shook ship. Could you point me to the thread, please?

@BIAD:

Are Craddock and Pandora in the chapel library?
Wild is there, needs to find Gert & the rest, but they seem to have gone.

Might be a good time for her to hail Dag for help? Or perhaps find Gert (no doubt still glamoured-gorgeous) and Alaag.

Where did everyone go after the Ceremony? Wild had been dragged from the chapel by Brittle because she was going after Gert, who was trying to seduce Alaag...

Sorry for my long delay - it has been one helluva summer. Lost my muse...she wanders in and out, now - BIAD may have seen her wandering around in the shadows, I dunno....

reply to post by wildtimes

Are you two referring to the beams that melted the Deson Fighter?

We did determine that Wild and Alaag are the ones who were using it to wrangle space junk to the surface; that's what they built their "airship" out of.

Cool to know and good to go - that's what I was referring to on one hand. On the other 'the shudder' - is still not explained. It happened around the time we became aware Adam was telling stories to pass the time to his dying while trying to remain reasonably sane in the process.

The shudder? I have a feeling it's going to explain itself soon.

Glad to see you back!

peace

reply to post by silo13


I thought the shudder was Ship returning to herself...leaving behind her "incarnate" Chum-booty...lol
Chumley's new portrait is a scream! (both kinds, lol-funny, and ....Aaarrghhh!)

Thanks for the welcome. Got a lot on my plate right now, but ATS remains my haven.

reply to post by wildtimes

That's what I was thinking too - Ship - returning.
I hope 'she' tells me how to epxplain it soon!

peace