The Space Opera Working Thread

Hi! Just a brief update. I've just finished a rough rendering of a Pistol that the Yydryl crew might use. Note that this picture had NO texture work or sights built on it yet, but this should give you an idea. Yeah, it's a little retro looking but I figure that with some texture work it should be more (organic) looking. Note that also I'll be doing more work on the trigger mechanism and a later one showing the parts.


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4e861023f9bb.jpg[/atsimg]

Gotta take of now. Off to do battle with the government helping a friend replace a lost ID card. Pheh!


[edit on 18-5-2009 by Deson]

Are we there yet?
Somebody give that poor boy a hand. I can hear his teeth chattering from the bridge.

Great posts Whisper.

Hey Scurvy when your done with your beer and potatoe salad put a tracker beam or just beam Asher in, will ya?
LOL

or use the gefeltafish aray....

[edit on 18-5-2009 by cindymars]

ok, everyone.

Just finished working on a Pistol for the Yydryl crew.


Here is a side view of it.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/278cbc16ab00.jpg[/atsimg]

A rear view looking down the sights so that you can see how they work.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e97b54c7f6d3.jpg[/atsimg]

Another side view with the parts labeled. I'll have the explanation of what's what underneath.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/137c07f9bce3.jpg[/atsimg]

ok, the parts and theory of operation:

If you'll remember this gun uses the same basic principals as a bombardier beetle as far as how to send the round on it's way. It mixes 2 chemicals together that react explosively in a separate chamber and the explosion sends the round on it's way.

Chemical Tanks: There are 2 of them. For safety sake they are on opposite sides of the pistol (left and right). These store the chemicals that react with each other explosively separate from each other.

Feeder Tubes: For redundancy there are 2 from each tank. These carry the chemicals from the chemical tanks into the mixing chamber when the trigger is pulled.

Mixing chamber: This is where the dangerous stuff happens. The chemicals mix explosively and send gases down the barrel sending the round on it's way.

Organic Latex Grip: These are soft covering over a harder shell allowing the grip to conform to either a Bipedal hand or a tentacle that has been wrapped around it a couple of times.

Ammo reload: You can insert preloaded magazines containing rounds if you don't have time to let it rebuild it's own ammo supply. Like during a fire fight for example. The magazines slipped into the pistol grip itself. To eject a clip just slap the fill port with your hand/ tentacle and it'll eject the magazine. How many rounds does it hold? Well, that's up to you. Personally I wouldn't worry about running out of ammo until it's "Dramatically appropriate". I figure that the rounds do about the same amount of damage as a .45 Earth pistol. If you decide to have a LOT of rounds (thus being small sized ones) then you'll need a very high muzzle velocity.

Fill Port: This serves 2 functions. This allows you to put in a sugar water mix to allow it to rebuild ammo and the chemicals. Just open and pour it in. The second function is to eject the spent magazine by slapping it.

Front sight: This can be adjusted up and down in small amounts for accuracy. The rear sights (a notch) cannot be adjusted.

Barrel and Muzzle: Well, I don't think I need to explain those.

Trigger Guard: This prevents the trigger from going off accidentally.

You'll note that other than the trigger guard there is no safety. I figure since everyone on the ship has a chip identifying them as being authorized on the Yydryl that the guns would can be only operated by someone who has the proper chip. Thus no U-mans (unauthorized ones that is) can operate this pistol. I can only presume that the same will be done to the other ranged weapons. For story purposes, let's presume that someone from the Penelope managed to get one of these pistols. How to use it is pretty obvious. How it works can also be figured out. How to bypass the security is going to be rather difficult. It CAN be done but not only would you require a pistol (maybe several) but also some extracted chips from prisoners. Or corpses. That's if things go really, really bad.

Now that I have a basic pistol done (assuming that you people like it) making the other things (Carbine, Rifle, and Semi-Portable) may go faster since I can "recycle" certain parts and don't need to construct the entire thing from scratch.

Oh as far as the folding Shurikens? I think I have something suitable in my demented imagination. I'll see what I can come up with.

ok, I just added a pic showing the muzzle (the business end). You'll also note the notches on the top of the mixing chamber that act as rear sights.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/950e68f9e22e.jpg[/atsimg]



Edit to link to a smaller size pic of the labeled parts.

Edit to add front view pic.


[edit on 18-5-2009 by Deson]

reply to post by Deson


Deson -
I think there just might be a chance you were born in the wrong century.
That is unless this one sprouts spaceships and manned crews in need of armaments!

As an avid gun enthusiast - I gotta say, I love this thing!

(Oh and - lol - I thought you were going to use real beetles, rotfl! That jokes on me and I take the ribbing graciously).

Also F.Y.I - One of my favorite, if not my absolute favorite handgun is the H&K P7 M13.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ede87d5a1b41.jpg[/atsimg]

This gun can be fired in three ways.

Regular *pull the trigger* -

Squeeze the handgrip - without engaging the finger pull (trigger) -

Pulling the trigger and squeezing the handgrip at the same time...

I don’t know if this would come in handy with your pistol - so it can be fired by those with tentacles and fingers alike?

Anyway, thanks for giving me a chance to talk guns!

peace

Originally posted by SeekerOfAUTMN
Arg, the suspense is killing me! My alter-ego is quickly becoming an enhanced popsicle, and who knows if I'm on Whisper's lunch menu or not...

Will our Hero survive?


Will he be rescued before he freezes to death?


Will they reach him before he suffocates to death?


Will he.....ACKK! What The Hell?





[edit on 19-5-2009 by SLAYER69]

reply to post by Deson


That's TOO cool, Deson! I'm going down to the gun shop right now, so I can be sitting there when they open the doors and get one!

reply to post by nenothtu


Hey Neno,

I was wondering if you had any plans for my request to round up all the people w/ NI backgrounds on the ship? I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with them, but it seems like something I would do in that situation. Maybe confine them all to quarters or the brig.

If there are any handlers or people responsible for Seeker on board, they're getting a quick trip home......

reply to post by mf_luder


I'll try to thrash something out, and when we get 'em, you can have Slayer launch 'em out a photon torpedo tube towards home.

reply to post by nenothtu


You're a good man, nenothtu.

Thanks for the input people. I appreciate it.

I think what I'll do is wait for further reactions before I can consider the design "finalized". After that I'll work on the riles etc.

Silo13's concept of the trigger mechanism is something that i think I'll incorporate in the full sized rifles, and semi portables. I suspect that such a mechanism might affect accuracy and in the case of those larger weapons, it won't be so much of a factor due to the weapon's mass. I'll get to work on those after I get further input.

In the meantime, tonight I'll get to work on a folding shuriken design as well as a couple of hand to hand concepts when I return from my little trip that'll take most of the day.

As far as me being born in the wrong century? Yeah, friends have been saying for years that either I should have either been born in the middle ages (I can swing a mean axe) or not for several centurys yet.

(chuckle)

Got a gun shop? Well that could work. or else you could perhaps goto a farm. hehe.

reply to post by mf_luder


Sorry it took me so long to get to that, I've been a bit preoccupied of late. Sometimes, ya just need to smack me upside the head with something, preferrably not metallic. That makes my ears ring.

I've got my post for the big event mostly worked out, for whenever we get video of the Yydryl. I'll just have to adjust it to suit the particulars of what's going on right then.

Dun Dun Dun......

Will the Colonel turn to the Dark side. Or is this all just a misguided attempt to prevent someone from dying.

Then again, It could also be all about revenge and making those truly responsible for the Nimitz incident pay.


I assume Seeker/Asher will be beamed away, forcing Studious to pursue him into the belly of the beast... er... ship.

Originally posted by mf_luder
Not trying to begin a pattern of providing a synopsis for each of my posts - - - lol - - ahem (Studious).....

On to my synopsis...

The it's all Greek to me line is a reference to Cicero's words in "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar" by Shakespeare. The Greek line is a reference to Apotheosis and Thanatos Greek mythological terms for the N-bombs and an NI member.

[edit on 19-5-2009 by Studious]

[edit on 19-5-2009 by Studious]

reply to post by Studious


Consider Horkos under detention. If he tries to run, I'll have my man burn a hole straight through him.

Now, Mr Studious... if that's REALLY your name (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)... you should be more concerned with cutting deals with NI at this particular juncture, more than any... fevered, delusional, UNRELIABLE speech he may have 'overheard' you make in the brig...

I mean, after all, just about now I'm disinclined to believe much of anything NI might have to tell me... well, unless I beat it out of them.

I'm going to need 2 bricks, a board or folding tabletop, a bucket of water, and some cloth. No, wait, scratch that. I didn't say that out loud, did I?


[edit on 2009/5/19 by nenothtu]

A wise man keeps his friends close and his enemies closer.



[edit on 19-5-2009 by Studious]

I was thinking about something and I'd like some input from everyone, really.

I'd like to start a new thread - not a derailer - but sort of like a "backstory" thread for Luder or for the UEF and I would probably do most of the writing in it myself, but guest writers would be welcome. It would serve as a sort of "flesh-out" thread for the universe we're in and give more information on where Luder came from and things of that nature.

Just wondering how well this would be received?

reply to post by Studious


Yeah, but us security types ain't renowned for our wisdom. We'll just clap him in irons... or burn a hole through him. Studious can stay as close as he likes to him after that.

Ain't you had enough of the brig already?

We're also gonna want that 'lectronic gizzy he gave ya, so Slayer can take it apart and see what the moving parts are...

reply to post by mf_luder


Interesting thought. Since this is becoming an epic now, I think it wouldn't be out of order to flesh the bones out some, and create a framework to hang everything in. It could explain other quirks and apparent surface contradictions to the initiated, and help to keep the opera more or less on track.

It could help to establish 'canon' laws.

I like it!

reply to post by nenothtu


Consider it done - I'll establish the new thread at once.

I may start two.

One specifically for Luder and one for the UEF as a whole.

We'll see how that goes.

reply to post by mf_luder


The UEF Thread can be for all of us to post on for actual CANON background material for both characters and the UEF as an entity. Not quite the same as this background thread - since this is specifically for the story, but for Canon material that we can refer to when talking about the "past" and such.

What say you all?

I'm going to start one specifically for us UEF types, but if the crew of the Yydryl wants to chip in, that'd be cool as well.

It could be like an encyclopedia of the Galaxy we're creating.

We obviously couldn't make it in alphabetical order, but each entry could cover one topic.

ie:

USS Saratoga

Hope-Class medical/research vessel lost with all hands aboard in 2310.

It is believed this vessel was destroyed by Alpha Centaurian warships, though that government denies any involvement. The ship was working its way back to Earth with a contingent of 6000 refugees on board from a dying planet.


The new thread will be called: UEF Background Data

[edit on 19-5-2009 by mf_luder]