One of the advantages of being multilingual was that one could pick the best language for a given situation. This late at night,
on the border between Blue and Brown sectors after being dragged out of bed for what had turned out to be a complete non-event, called for profanity. And if
ever any human language had been optimized for wearily cursing the universe's neverending campaign to destroy what little remained of Susan's sanity,
her native Russian was it.

She had just rounded a corner in the deserted corridor, mind more fixated on reaching the nearest lift and getting back to her
cold and empty (but at least soft) bed than on her surroundings when it happened. Mere meters ahead of her, a sudden shimmer in the air, like a solid heat
haze, blurred the corridor for a moment before splitting apart like a theater curtain, opening onto a momentary sight that reminded her jarringly of the view
through a jump point.

Then a machine shot out of the opening, hit the deckplates, and plunged towards her on two narrow wheels with the whine of some
of king of engine Dopplering in her ears. Combat-honed reflexes dulled by shock and sleep deprivation, she stumbled backwards, slammed into the bulkhead, and
had just enough time to realize that there was no way she could dive down the angle of the corridor quickly enough--

-- before the howling machine screeched to a stop mere inches from running her down, leaving dark streaks on the decking and
probably giving its rider whiplash, judging from how his head snapped back and forth.

...the rider. The machine was an archaic -motorcycle-, Susan realized belatedly, which meant... "GARIBALDI!!! YOU'RE A
DEAD M--"

Her voice cut off as several facts finally registered in her brain.

??????: The motorcycle's rider was the wrong size and shape to be Michael Garibaldi.

??????: Despite the full-body protective suit, the open-faced helmet and goggles still left the rider's chin visible, and
that was definitely -not- Garibaldi's jawline. It was too clean-shaven, for one thing.

??????, and most important: Whatever near-tecnomagery the Security chief might be capable of when in pursuit of ever greater and
grander pranks (usually aimed at herself), teleportation wasn't one of them.

Not to mention the fact that for the past five seconds it had taken her to work through all this, the nameless rider, whom she
now realized was -strapped- to his machine, had hung limp and unmoving as a rag doll, either unconscious or--

She steeled herself and reached out to carefully poke one pale cheek below the goggles. Clammy, but warm. She dangled her hand
in front of his face and was rewarded with the sensation of shallow but steady respiration drifting past her fingers.

Great. She rolled her eyes upwards. "I don't know what I did to deserve this, but are you sure I was -that-
bad?"

There was, of course, no reply. Fortunately, her native tongue had a perfect word for this situation as well:
"Nichevo," she sighed, and activated her Link.

"C&C, this is Ivanova."

The response was startled. "Commander? What are you doing up?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Don't ask, Corwin. Call Chief Garibaldi and Doctor Franklin. Tell them I need them and an
incident team at--" she stopped to double-check the wall markers. "At Brown Twenty-Seven, Section Eighteen. ASAP."

"Um, Commander, I'm pretty sure they're both asleep, and I know the Chief had a bad day--" Corwin sounded less
than enthused at the idea of of waking the cantankerous head of security, which roused scant sympathy in Susan's heart. If -she- were going to have to pull
an all-nighter, then she might as damned well share the joy. "I don't care what kind of day he had," she cut the lieutenant off. "I want
them both down here, NOW. And don't worry," she added with just a bit of cheerful malice, "we'll be pulling in the Commander pretty soon
too."

"Yes, ma'am." Corwin somehow managed to sound brisk, efficient, and like a man being lead before a firing squad
all at the same time.

"Ivanova out." She killed the Link and propped her hands on her hips, glaring at the latest Weird Thing to hit Epsilon
Sector's infamous Weird Magnet (known officially as Babylon 5). Just one more damn thing that proved that the universe was out to get -her-, personally,
that's what it was. Just one... more....

Irritation gave way to bemusement. The motorcycle's engine had shut off after it stopped, the rider's legs were limp was
wet noodles, and she could see that the, uh, kick-stilt? Leg-strut? The whateveryoucallit that was supposed to hold the motorcycle upright... wasn't. So
-why- wasn't the darn thing tipping over?

"Who -are- you," she murmured, wide eyed. "And why are you -here-?"

If some stroke of divine precognition had given her the answer to those questions just then, Lieutenant Commander Susan
Ivanonva, Earthforce, second-in-command of Babylon 5, would have run for the cobra bays and taken her Starfury straight through the jumpgate on a course Away
From Here at the fighter's best possible speed. But since that would not have suited the whims of the universe, or the designs of the Powers directing the
path of the motorcycle's nameless rider, she was left in a state of blissful, if potentially lethal, ignorance.

For a little while longer, at least....

Presented below are links to saved NewEgg carts for new machines! The first link is for an 'evil' 666$ upgrade that will use your existing case, 1hdd,
and 1optical drive (or more if you have SATA drives) to create a VERY capable CoH machine, with great future upgrade possibilities!

Wiregeek's Evil CoH Upgrade

The second is a logical expansion of the first, adding case, hard drive, and optical drive to be a sub-1000$ (before shipping) full system, with everything
except mouse, keyboard, and monitor.

Wiregeek's Evil CoH Full Machine

I've built very similar machines to both of these, and have been very pleased with their performance under Linux and Windows. My Personal workstation is
nearly identical to this setup - I just have a few more drives and a GeForce 8800GTS instead of the GT..

Submitted for your edification and reading pleasure. I do not have any business relationship with Newegg and do not get anything if you buy through them or
click those links.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

reading OotP. Except on an alien planet and with diplomacy.

Seriously -- the levels of angst and crying and feeling of helplessness in this piece is so heavy, I'm surprised the book doesn't weigh more than my
tv.

Edit: Oh goody. At least it ends on a sort of hopeful note. I was about to wonder if this was actually a tragedy complete with a tragic end.

So, as most of you may or may not know the trailer for the new Indy flick is up.

Thoughts?
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"

So, allowing Vista to run its latest
"update" has converted some keys into hotkeys that interrupt
all programs.

Broken keys (subverted via copy/paste):

b, d, e, m, r, t, u
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

Does anybody want to do Positron's TF? Or not really -want- to, but want the Task Force Commander accolade? Feeling masochistic enough to brave the Shadow
Shard TFs?

I ask because Badb has the Summon Teammates temp power (for two days of in-game time) and it'll be a while before I get the Veteran Reward, and I hate to
waste the chance to stealth the hard missions at the beginning of Posi, or use it to speed up Shard travel... and because I've been toying with the idea of
trying to start a regular (or irregular) Task Force / Trial night. This would happen next week or later if it does, so as not to conflict with the Statesman TF
run.

Thoughts? Is a Task Force Night a good idea? Are there other TFs/Trials that would benefit from this temp power in the hands of a stealthy character?

Mainly for Ankhani's attention, though if she hasn't made a firm decision yet, I'm sure folks
are welcome to chip in... earlier today, Ankh was thinking about making a SS/Elec brute, with the concept that the Circle screwed up some sort of summoning or
binding ritual and pulled in a Fury instead.

(I did note at the time that the Furies already have an interpretation in CoH canon, the Three Sisters, but eh.)

Costume-wise she didn't have any definite ideas, though. I suggested some kind of fanciful warrior aesthetic, partially armoured - this is kinda what I
meant. Probably not my best designs because I'm tired as hell and need sleep, in fact probably crappy designs, but, eh, general idea ya know?



Yeah, okie. That's it. I'm done. z_z *hops to bed*

-- Acyl

This is...a totally odd idea, but I haven't been able to shake it from my brain for a while now.

I'm not sure what circumstances would lead to this, but bear with me for the moment. Let's say, hypothetically, for whatever story reason... Doug needs
to make a dogs-of-hell-are-nibbling-at-my-ankles the-world-is-at-stake blistering race across the planet or something. Across an ocean, across a continent, I
don't know.

But with constraints. Possibly he's got to stay within high atmosphere. Possibly follow a certain path. I dunno. But some mad desperate-as-heck dash across
an aerial route.

Would he be able to set up a playlist for that? A series of flight power songs, following one after another? I'm a Pioneer chaining into
Queen's Don't Stop Me Now, followed by...I dunno, Elton John's Rocket Man, R.Kelly's I Believe I Can Fly...

How smoothly do power songs transition, once one stops playing and the other picks up? Will there be a second or two of bumpy turbulance or even
freefall between songs?

Will his metagift kick him in the teeth for attempting a stunt like this?

'cause I'm thinking, whatever the limitations, it could be a really good sequence for a Stagger at least...

-- Acyl

Since Comrade Fnord asked about it...
This is very much a work-in-progress.

Well, not strictly speaking. But coming out on DVD this summer will be a special DC project -- six anime directors will be doing their takes on Batman, overseen by Bruce Timm and other folks who've generally done well in managing the animated side of the DC Universe.

sneak preview here.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.