Not for the first time, Alice Romanova wondered why the teleport beacon for Peregrine wasn’t moved to Portal Corp instead of being kept right at the other end of the island. At least three quarters of all hero work here was based through there to a hundred different realities, after all. It’d make more sense than having to run across the city every single time.

Explains why Valles moved here, Purrfect Archer thought to herself as she leapt from the rooftop, passing over another street. Without even slowing, she twisted in midair, summoned a handful of arrows, and fired them in a single volley. The Rikti below fell to their knees, their armors medical systems teleporting them away as it registered their injuries from the rain of arrows. Rolling as she landed on the next rooftop, the catgirl sprinted across it, then jumped again. Passing close enough to a higher building, she ran along the wall, seemingly ignoring gravity entirely as she made her way towards Portal Corp.

The soldiers there let her pass without comment or delay, drawing a slight frown from the girl. Heading into the lobby of the east building, she recognised Unai Kemen waiting for her, the perfect person to speak to about it. “Your guards let me right in,” she noted.

“You’re a rather well known young lady these days,” he replied dryly.

“I took down a Nemesis duplicate of myself last week,” she pointed out in return.

Unai stopped to consider that, then scowled. “Very good point. I’ll make certain to talk to them.” Gesturing for her to follow, he ran her through the internal security properly, then headed for the lifts. “We’ve had a survey team get caught in the middle of a global crisis in one of the realities we’ve been studying,” he explained. “Most of the team were safely extracted, but one of them was captured by soldiers of an alien invasion force.”

“What’s the survey conditions?” she asked as they stepped into the lift.

“We haven’t made contact with the governments there yet,” Unai replied. “There’s no focal point for super-villains like the Isles here, but there’s a few dozen little dictatorships and banana republics across the planet. Add in about as many super-powered terrorist groups as we’ve got here, along with their own versions of Malta and the like...” He shrugged as they descended several hundred feet. “We’ve got enough problems here without drawing more hostile attention.”

Alice chuckled lightly. "Well, that's a reasonable attitude. So, I need to get in and get your researcher out without being noticed?" Her tail twitched as she smiled. "While I am good at being sneaky here, I may just stand out in another reality."

"Not as much as you'd think," Unai said as the lift doors opened. A man in his early thirties was standing in the hallway, clearly trying not to look panicked and clearly failing. "Purrfect Archer, this is Doctor Jameson, our head researcher on the target reality."

"Miss Archer," he said, shaking her hand, before handing her a manila folder. Alice opened it to see the photo of a somewhat nervous looking woman in her early twenties, with brown hair, freckles and rather large glasses. "Katie Lovell," Jameson explained. "She's an intern, specializing in advanced technology."

"Why was she kidnapped?" the catgirl asked as she memorized Katies face, then turned the page to see a number of poor quality photos of various skull faced robots, which Alice guessed were taken from television reports and camera phones.

“She wasn’t the direct target. Those robots are the ground forces of the alien invader, a creature called Brainiac. From what we can tell, someone was attempting a planet-wide superpower creation event. Some kind of advanced nano-technology they call Exobytes. Apparently, Brainiac has sent an invasion force to capture people infected by these Exobytes and attempt to harvest them.”

“And Miss Lovell is infected,” Alice finished, nodding. “Had she manifested any powers?”

“None that we’d seen. We were heading for the extraction point when half a dozen of those robots appeared, one of them said something about the Exobytes, then they grabbed Katie and teleported away. They didn’t even pay any attention to the rest of us,” he added, an interesting mixture of relief, irritation and shame flickering over his face.

Unai spoke up again as Alice looked at more pictures, these ones of a shining city with alien ships floating overhead. “Brainiac hasn’t detected Miss Lovells tracking beacon yet, we hope, and we’ve been able to track it to one of the ships he has in position over the city of Gotham. The local armed forces and their own heroes are fighting back, and I think they could win. But letting Miss Lovell stay in captivity too long is unacceptable. It’s too likely that Brainiac could notice something odd about her, probe a little deeper...”

Alice nodded. “And the last thing we need is yet another parallel reality trying to invade us,” she finished. Unai nodded, and the heroine skimmed the rest of the folders documentation. A brief primer on local heroes and big name villains, known abilities of the Brainiac robots, and so on. “How close can you get me?”

Portal Corps security chief frowned. “We can get you onto the ship, possibly even at her location. But we believe at that kind of range, Brainiacs sensors will be able to detect the portal. The engineers assure me that a half second portal can be modified to look like a more conventional teleportation effect, but we’re not going to be able to get you back out that way.”

Archer looked at Kemen for a moment, her expression serious, then she nodded slightly. “So, I need to find Lovell, free her, then get off the ship and go to ground?”

“That’s the best bet,” he agreed. “If you do have any attention drawn to you, you should be able to maintain your cover story until we can reestablish a lock on you and open a portal planetside. It could be four or five days,” he warned her as they stepped into the portal chamber.

Looking down at the hole in reality contained within the spinning machinery, Alice considered that, then turned to the very end of the manila folder, finding a collection of bank notes that didn’t quite match local currency, along with identification for an ‘Alice Romanova’ that had a very nicely modified picture of her. “Human me. Cute,” she chuckled, taking the money and id, vanishing it into thin air. “Now, I don’t suppose you happened to make some identification for Inyme as well?”

“Inyme W’tin?” Doctor Jameson wondered, then jumped slightly as the woman in question appeared next to Alice with the familiar flash of a mission teleporter.

“Of course,” the Rikti replied with a dry smile. “I’d hardly let Alice go off to another dimension that’s being invaded by alien invaders alone.” Unai smirked faintly, taking a small collection of cards from his shirt pocket. “Clever man,” she chuckled, nodding to Alice before heading for the portal. The catgirl grinned and followed.

***

Katie flinched back as the robot grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the force-field container. It held her there for a moment, studying her, before throwing her aside onto a raised platform. “COMMENCING EXOBYTE ACTIVATION AND EXTRACTION. SECURITY FIELD ACTIVE,” it declared, the words seemingly repeated by the walls of room they were in. Another forcefield appeared around her, a grid of gleaming orange light.

Scrambling to her feet, she watched as more of the droids stepped in, carrying large barrels that they attached to the side of the platform she was trapped on. Then, as she tried not to whimper in terror, they stopped mid-motion. “TELEPORTATION SIGNATURE DETECTED. SHORT RAN-” The statement was interrupted by the nearest droids jawless skull shattering as an arrow punched clean through it. It slumped to the ground, disabled, as a catgirl appeared in midair in a flash of light, kicking another droid hard enough to throw it across the room. Behind her, a darker skinned woman in a simple jumpsuit appeared, raising a hand at several of the droids, which were slammed up into the roof.

“PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED,” the droids said, moving towards the new arrival. “UNEXPECTED EXOBYTE ACTIVATION. SECURING.”

“Yeah,” the catgirl replied with a smirk, Katies eyes widening as she recognised her from the news back home. “You try that.” Spinning on the spot, she pulled a half dozen arrows out of thin air and fired them from her bow all at once, taking down all but one of them. That last one she simply looked at, and it was thrown backwards and crushed into the far wall.

“Purrfect Archer!” Katie squeaked. The woman turned towards her, a confident smile on her face. “Oh my god, it’s really you! I mean, I’ve always wanted to meet you, I’m a big fan, but I never thought-”

“Easy Miss Lovell,” she smiled, stepping towards the platform. “Let’s see about getting you out of there for now, shall we?” As she turned her attention to the platforms computer terminal, the other woman stepped towards the doors, seeing what she could do about locking it.

Inyme W’tin, Katie realised. The Rikti infiltrator that... hadn’t quite defected so much as somehow started a new Rikti faction, if she was remembering the stories on the Internet properly. Even as she tried to remember the details, the woman in question turned towards her, and an understanding of their cover story simply appeared in her mind.

“Oh, right,” she nodded. “Makes sense. I mean, given we can’t go telling them the whole story and we don’t want Brainiac to know and-” she squeaked again and made herself shut up, taking a few deep breaths and trying to stop her hands from shaking. Archer looked up at her and smiled slightly.

“Don’t worry Katie,” she reassured her. “You’ll be fine.”

***

The girl was radiating so much terror it actually made Alice slightly nervous. Understandable. While Paragon City had the chance of being threatened by various super powered criminals, with threats ranging from muggings to body hijacking, there were a lot of heroes active there. Being kidnapped by alien robots in an alternate universe was an odd one, even by the standards of someone working at Portal Corp.

It was helping that she was one of Alice’s fans, as embarrassing as that could be at times. The concept of an nineteen year old catgirl (Sure, she looked older, but her age WAS a matter of public record) being a calming presence on a woman in her mid twenties was rather odd, but given she no longer looked about to throw up, Alice counted it as a win. Inyme considered it amusing. Now, if only she could convince the force-field to power down...

The sound of a door sliding open at the far end of the hallway caught her attention, and she looked up to see another half dozen droids marching through. “Oh for gods sake,” she muttered, stepping away from the controls and raising her bow. “I’m working here!” Inyme merely smiled, her casual confidence all the answer needed, as a storm of psychic energy shredded them. “Thanks love,” she said, enjoying the simple satisfaction her other half radiated, before turning her attention back to the terminal. It wasn’t going well. “I’m not going to be able to trick this thing into turning off,” she commented. “I’ll have to take the brute force solution.”

“Mind if I try it?” a new voice asked, and Alice blinked, looking up at the roof in surprise. This wasn’t the harsh, mechanical voice of Brainac she’d heard before. This was lighter, female, friendlier. “I’m Oracle,” she explained. “I’ve managed to access Brainiacs network. He’s trying to lock me out, but so far he’s not having too much luck. You’re not the only prisoners with super powers he’s lost control of. There’s fighting going on on most of his ships at the moment.”

“If you can get Katie out, I’d be happy to do my part to help with that violence,” Alice said with a smile. Hidden behind that smile though, she and Inyme shared a quick mental conversation. Alice had seen Oracle mentioned in the quick briefing Portal Corps had provided. Possibly an AI, or a very good hacker and all round genius, she was one of the major players in this realities hero community, operating as a mission control and general power behind the scenes. The two women quickly debated the problems of coming into too much contact with local heroes, but eventually Inyme had to agree with Alice that since contact was already made, refusing it would only draw suspicion.

“And I’m happy to help... hmm.”

“Hmm? What do you mean, hmm?” Katie asked nervously, adjusting her glasses.

“The system has safety protocols in place to try and prevent superpowered prisoners escaping,” Oracle replied. “I can trick it into thinking it’s extracted the exobytes, but only after I’ve activated them.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to have better security for when they HAVE superpowers?” Alice pointed out, frowning. Inyme didn’t actually roll her eyes, but her bond with Alice did a remarkable job of conveying the image to the catgirl. It was blatantly obvious to her, and Alice for that matter, that Oracle was thinking that both the women not trapped in force fields were powered up by Exobytes, and was operating under the theory that more firepower would be needed to make up for lack of experience.

Of course, both Alice and Inyme were anything but inexperienced, and that led to an interesting debate on if they should try and think of a way to stop Oracle from giving a rookie superpowers. Their cover story might struggle a bit, but it might be safer to keep her as a non-combatant. That said, she might be very useful with powers. They’d both seen people that landed on their feet when dropped into the life.

“Hmm, you’d think so,” Oracle said, unaware of the telepathic discussion that was going on.. “But I think it’s more a containment issue. Once they’re active, they’re usually extracted almost instantly, so they must not see it as a problem.”

Inyme considered blowing the door hydraulics and locking it down, but then abandoned the idea and walked over to join Alice at the platform, looking up at Katie and mentally noting that Oracle could at least make her justifications sound plausible.

“I think it’s a bit of a problem!” Katie squeaked, eyes wide. “What’re these things going to do to me?”

“Judging by what I’ve seen so far,” Alice said, keeping her voice calm and reasonable, “it’s going to give you superpowers.” She was actually going by what she’d been briefed on by Portal Corps, but no need to mention that in front of a local. “I don’t know how to tell what type, but I know that much.” Katie still looked like she was going to have a panic attack, so Alice pressed on quickly. “I know, it’s scary. But I’ve been there before, and I’d like to think I did alright.” Katie hesitated, and Alice could feel her emotions wavering. “And I could really use some help getting out of here,” she added, then managed not to wince as Inyme noted with more than a little amusement that she’d made it impossible for the girl to refuse, given the hero worship.

Sure enough, Katies emotions calmed, and she nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this.” Taking a breath, she tried to brace herself for... well, Alice wasn’t entirely sure what, exactly, and she didn’t exactly have time to consider it further. The doors were opening again, revealing another dozen drones, a half dozen purple droids that were bulkier and more heavily armored, and something else. Something much bigger. Looked very Arachnos really, but then, she thought that about almost anything spider-like. In this case, it was the jaw-less skull design Brainiac seemed to favor, with what looked like an actual giant brain mounted in the back, all on top of mechanical spider-legs.

“That,” Oracle said flatly, “is an Overseer. Be careful...” her voice trailed off, and Alice smiled slightly. Inyme smiled wider, and Alice could sense her anticipation as she got ready to grab the mechs mind.

“Purrfect Archer,” she replied. “Get Katie powered up. I’ll buy you the time you need.” With that, she began walking forward calmly, flames dancing around her as another arrow appeared in her hand. Inyme hung back, letting Alice grab the attention and let her work.

“THE PRISONERS WILL BE SECURED AND RETURNED FOR EXTRACTION,” the Overseer stated, as energy emitters mounted on the humanoid robots began to glow.

Her smile widening into an outright grin, Alice broke into a run. “Just try it!” she laughed, leaping over the first shots. Twisting in midair, she fired down into the middle of a group of droids, the arrow detonating and scattering them everywhere. With a crackle of ionised air, a force-field snapped into view around the Overseer and it charged towards her as she landed. Somehow though, it missed her entirely, colliding with a two of the sentry drones and crushing them against the wall. Alice laughed, her eyes darting over to a clearly amused Inyme, who had determined that the Overseers vat-grown brain was so very easy to play with.

***

She was a Paragon girl. Grew up in Founders, survived the Rikti war, made certain to continue her education in the aftermath of that. She’d been nearly mugged by Hellions, had Clockwork try to steal her phone, and dodged Rikti and Zombies whenever they popped up. She’d even had run ins with Crey and the like. Kate had seen heroes at work hundreds of times, charging in to take down villains all over the City. While she was the sort of person whose idea of facing evil was to get out of the way and let someone more qualified handle it, she knew the difference between raw violence and skill.

And she could see that Purrfect Archer and Inyme W’tin were damn good. The catgirl never stopped moving, working to keep her distance and fire off arrows with better accuracy and speed then any mere human should be able to do. Off to the side, Inyme worked unnoticed, making the Overseer dance to her will and forcing the other drones to have to dedicate some effort to disabling it. Every now and then, one of them got too close to her or tried to line up a shot on her, and she responded with a blade of purple psychic energy that punched clean through her target and dropped it then and there. Brainiac drones went down with shocking speed as they tried to close in on Archer, the woman shifting from ranged combat to melee with ease, using an arrow like a dagger and stabbing up through the underside of a drones skull. As it fell, a wave of a hand surrounded another target in flame, and then Archer was airborne again, leaping over the now rather battered looking Overseer and reducing its giant brain to pulp with half a dozen arrows.

“PRISONER REMAINS UNSECURED,” Brainiac declared. “REDEPLOYING SUBJUGATORS TO EXTRACTION CHAMBER FIVE.” Sure enough, Katie could see even more of those larger purple drones stomping down the hall towards the still open main doors. Inyme stepped up next to Archer, the pair smiled at each other, and then they both sent a wave of psychic energy rampaging down the corridor at their victims.

After that, Katie was a bit too distracted to pay attention. Her body suddenly went wild, waves of heat rippling over her skin, her heart racing faster, her eyes watering. Gasping, her knees gave way and she fell sideways, bouncing off the force-field with a brief spark of energy and sprawling across the platform. Chest heaving, the young woman managed to roll onto her back, then lay there, trying not to throw up.

“Stay calm,” she heard Oracle say. “I know it’s an odd sensation, but it’ll pass in a few moments. Just stay calm, and you’ll be alright.”

“You... You’re not the one on fire!” she gasped, her voice cracking. Closing her eyes, she forced back the nausea, then winced as sharp spikes of pain raced out in both directions from her knees. The pain reached her hips and lingered for a long moment, then it burned out with one last sudden crack that made her legs spasm. As the pain faded and her legs were left feeling rather odd, Katie managed to sit up enough to take a good look at them.

What she saw made her stare in shock. Instead of the short, slightly flabby legs she was used to (Despite many attempts to improve them at the gym), Katie found herself staring at a pair of impressively long, sleek legs emerging from under her skirt. Her shoes had actually ripped open as her feet grew, leaving them in just her now rather strained stockings. As she watched though, her stockings vanished entirely, and her ruined shoes reformed themselves in a blaze of green light, covering her feet in a pair of rather nice knee-high boots.

Then her attention was pulled away from her lower half as the pain returned, moving up past her waist, over her shoulders and down her arms. Her elbows gave way, dropping her back to the floor, and she bit back a moan as the pain intensified, then vanished with the same physical spasm as before. There was a moment of that same sensation of oddness, but perhaps more importantly, a sudden uncomfortable pressure on her chest before her blouse and bra gave up the fight. "Oh damn!" she managed, clumsily bringing one arm up to try and cover a chest that had gone from barely A-cup to V-chan. The hand and arm were unfamiliar as well, smooth and delicate, with just a hint of muscle definition. Even as shocked and disoriented as she was right now, she could feel her waist and stomach were much the same, all smooth and lighter.

If only it wasn't happening like this, a part of her brain noted wryly as that green light covered her now rather ruined clothes. In seconds, they reformed into a dark black armored bodysuit with purple highlights. Armored gauntlets covered her hands and forearms, even as a cape flowed down from her shoulders.

The final shift was expected, and it came fast, and she closed her eyes as pain ripped across her face. She wasn’t able to hold back a pained scream as her jaw cracked and her face re-sculpted itself. Opening her eyes, she hoped that her face was still her own and managed to climb to her knees. The green light flickered over her face, and she felt the bodysuit move up her neck and grow over the top half of her face, forming a mask.

Then, like a switch was thrown, the pain and disorientation vanished entirely, and Katie leapt to her feet, looking around. She could see Purrfect Archer and Inyme W’tin, still standing in the doorway of the chamber, surrounded by the remains of dozens of Brainiac drones. They both looked virtually untouched, unconcerned even. Another wave of drones was coming down the corridor now, both women ready to meet the charge.

The glow of the platforms force field faded, and without a moments hesitation, Katie unhooked her weapon from her utility belt and charged towards the fight.

***

Despite how calm snd confident she looked, Alice was starting to worry a little. Not in terms of her ability to match what was coming at her, or Inymes ability to do the same. They were tearing the drones apart and were likely to keep doing that for some time. The problem was that eventually, Brainiac would decide the three women were costing too many robots to be worth capture, and then he’d either send in siege units, or figure out a way to open this section of the ship to space, and while she didn’t think she was immodest about her abilities, she rather doubted her abilities to handle hard vacuum.

Meanwhile, her lover was more worried about Katie. The pain, disorientation and fear radiating from behind them had her thinking that perhaps they'd made a mistake in trusting Oracle. Alice reminded her that they hadn't really had much choice, and they'd just have to work with the consequences, and got the mental version of an irritated grumble back.

Focusing her mind, Alice was about to drain the power of the drones closing to melee range, when the state of Katies mind shifted almost completely. The terror was replaced by mild fear, kept under tight control. Pain and disorientation faded away, anticipation and a sense of ease and physical comfort filling the void. And then she was moving, charging towards the fight.

Both of the other women moved out of the way, falling back to support Katie, just in case, but both of them eager to see what she could do. Which meant they both got a good look at the impressively tall red-head Amazon in a black and purple bodysuit nearly decapitate the closest drone with a swing of her quarterstaff.

Raising an eyebrow, Inyme looked over at Alice, not even needing her telepathic link to convey her astonishment. They’d both seen physical changes taking place over a short time before, usually from Kheldians, but this was drastically different from the five foot tall woman they’d come to rescue.

“Well,” Alice said. “I’d say you’re battle ready.”

Smiling, Katie twirled her staff and swept out the legs of the last drone in this attack wave. “I feel it,” she agreed. “What’s the plan?”

“Oracle, where to?” Alice asked, summoning more arrows. “Do we have an exit, or do we have targets on the ship?”

“Brainiacs forces are moving into deeper into the atmosphere. I’m trying to get through the transporter shielding, but I think you’re going to have to actually destroy several of the systems for me to have any luck.”

“Then lead the way,” the catgirl smiled, breaking into a run down the corridor, the other two women close behind.

More drones appeared, emerging from side corridors and storage bays, but they still weren’t properly prepared for the trios skill levels. Alice was nowhere near where they expected her to be, her arrows destroying their joints and power cores before they were able to retarget her, Inyme scrambled their systems and left them shooting at the air before her telekinesis ripped them apart, and even Katie was learning impressively fast, her staff hitting hard enough to crack armor and break the machine underneath.

Stepping around a lunging drone, Inyme sent it flying into a wall and glanced at Alice. The catgirl sensed the question and nodded slightly as she reached out and wrapped another enemy in flames. Stepping back from the fight for a moment, Inyme turned her attention to Katie entirely and focused. Instantly, the girl was pulled into the telepathic link. Not on the scale of the bond between the two lovers, but more like a radio headset, letting her hear the pair as they shared ideas and tactics. Before she knew it, she was moving with instinctive ease, moving at the front of the trios charge through the ship.

***

From the following thread, I present you with this moment of off-the-wall tangential humor. 

Quote:malonkey1:   I just realized something brilliant: If Valve did end up buying CoH, that means it could theoretically have a Steam Workshop, meaning that it could hypothetically have community-made costume parts added to the game! Possibly...Now, how do we get Valve to buy. I want my Portal Gun Beam Rifle.

Quote:Segev: Villainous in-game mission chain wherein Aperture Science buys out Portal Corp.?

Quote:DrakeGrimm: Nah. They buy out Aeon Corp.

Quote:Atlantea: GLADOS and Dr. Aeon. Mortal enemies or love at first sight?  FOR SCIENCE!!!!  .... You monster.

Quote:Atlantea: And all of a sudden the mental image of the end of SSA WWD mission - the one with the island in space - after you defeat Rula-Wade... 
... cannot be complete without a little orb floating by... 
"spacespacespacespacespacespacespacespacespace!!!! I'm in SPAAACE!!!... space space space!!!"

Fairly sure that my 'faithless steed' has just fatally broken its leg.

now I get to go back to the joy of being a carless looser in a town where your pretty much judged by your vehicle (los angeles)
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

I thought it was probably appropriate to put this here, as it is intended to be about the Wizards (the "Harry Potter" fandom faction), before magic is known to exist in Fenspace.

Quote:Rob Kelk wrote:

---

Ace Dreamer Wrote:Maybe the
Wizards got hold of a Catgirling Machine, really early on, and adapted
it to help them create all the 'magical creatures' that they want for
their fandom? Then, found some of those creatures turned out to be a
lot more magical than could be easily explained by handwavium and
biomods?I think I'd prefer the first generation of "magical creatures" to be one-offs, rather than produced by any sort of machine.

There is at the very least a social pressure against biomod-machines,
after all - That's Something The Boskonians Do. It'll take the research
project that Jenga carries out to break that prejudice... and by then
it'll be too late to use machines to produce the first of the magical
creatures.

IMHO.

A little bit craziness I had to write down...

#########

»More wheels, more jumping... more fun! The M35 Mako. Order yours today!«
- Advertisement slogan at Motorcon

»You three are just insane!«
- Cathy hearing about the ‘Venus drop' project

»The M35 Mako... the REAL all-terrain wheeler!«
- Advertisement slogan after the ‘Venus drop' project

The M35 Mako is an infamous vehicle based on the Mass Effect Games and produced by the Catgirl Industries factory complex at Frigga 77. It is advertised and sold as the ultimate wheeled all terrain vehicle and sold to customers in the whole solar system.

The Mako is a six-wheeled vehicle for up to four persons and some equipment. It is known for being robust up to ridiculous levels and its jumpjet system. Unlike many Fen vehicles, the Mako cannot fly. It is favored by those Fen who prefer ‘real vehicles' over the flying variants that are common in Fenspace.

The Mako is built from a special waved armor that protect the vehicle against all kind of environmental dangers and incoming fire. The engine burns hydrogen and oxygen to move the Mako forward and power its internal systems. A small Eezo core allows the vehicle to increase or decrease its mass to supplement its abilities to work in low-g areas and climb slopes. The gas powered jumpjets allow it to make jumps of more than a hundred meters.

The first Mako prototype was built on Jenga even before the work on the Frigga factory started. It was presented to the public on the first Motorcon in 2023.

Venus Drop project

To demonstrate the toughness of the Mako and as an advertising stunt three catgirls from Frigga moved a Mako to Crystal Tokio in 2026 and then dropped with the vehicle into the atmosphere. Using the Eezo core and the jumpjets, they managed to touch down carefully on the surface of the hellish planet.

They drove around for more than 15 minutes, after which a sustained full powered Mass Effect field made the vehicle light enough to float in Venus atmosphere high enough to be captured by the Normandy class Serenity Valley.

Catgirl Industries suggested a very thorough maintenance of the vehicle before trying to replicate this stunt.

M35-M variant

After finishing the Frigga factory complex, Catgirl Industries began to sell a Mako with military updates to any Great Justice approved forces. The military variant has an improved Eezo core to create a kinetic barrier around the vehicle and a coil-gun equipped turret.

The engine of the M35-M has been replaced by a fusion powered Otto engine designed on Frigga 77 to increase its range and durability.

Quirks:

• Which idiot designed this? - The Makos controls seem to be pretty common at the first look, but many drivers have trouble with them during the first few hours anyways.
  
• Catch me if you can! - When trying to jump up to be grabbed by a flying vehicle, the jumpjets work at 250% normal level.
  
• I am no bird. - even if the combination of jumpjets and Eezo core should allow it, the Mako cannot fly in low-gravity environments.
  

• The M-35 Mako has a range of nearly 700 km with a full tank of hydrogen and oxygen.
  
• The Mako is designed to be air-droppable and air-recoverable.
  
• CI's Mako is ~30% shorter than the in-game model.
  
• Top speed of the Mako is 220 km/h on road.
  
• The Mako can easily float on water with active Mass Effect field.
  

Could someone either put a link to the announcement that magic is to be allowed in Fenspace here, or, a copy of the announcement, please?  The idea is that this thread will be easy to find in future.
Thanks!
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

Form/widget/card.html] 1

Looks interesting, although $3000 (after taxes and shipping) is a bit out of my current price range... And, of course, it's not likely to work with all the 3D-modeling stuff I have (on account of those models being not completely bounded).

But, hey - once you've finished modeling something, you can print it at a decent resolution now! (For definitions of "now" that include "first quarter 2013".)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

I had a slow day in work.

2022, The Choppers
2023 Cosmo Dragoon, Judy (Bahamode)
2024 (Planned), This thing

Something every year should be sustainable on some level...

Quote:Project: Asagiri RF - 047. SU-47 'Berkut' Mouldline Replica

*Who are We?

We're calling ourselves Asagiri. We're a bunch of enthusiasts who live on 77 Frigga who like to go fast. We're Jet Jaguar, Mackie Jaguar and Daryl Haur. We have motorsports experience beforehand. We have experience tuning BAT engines. We have experience racing. We're enthusiasts looking to do something just that bit different.

And we have an idea.

*What are we doing?

The 'warbirds' class is one of the most popular and spectacular events on the Asteroid racing circuit. Short of full-on prototype racing it's also one of the most expensive. Consider the cost of a new Valkyrie, Viper, Blackbird or Talon, then add in all the race preparation required. Even with dedicated 'budget' homologation versions, the warbirds are still hampered by the compromises of their origins. The rules require that a warbird retain most of its primary weapons systems and struture.

In the last couple of years however, we noticed that orders of the JF-21 series through or HAP had increased up to an average of about 1 or 2 a month. We found out that they were being bought by racers in need of cheap speed, and didn't mind the lack of advanced hardware or controls. Out of that, grew the idea for a dedicated racer, built to be Great Justice compliant. Something that would offer the performance of a dedicated race-design.

Essentially, we're building a homologation special, a spacecraft designed from the ground up to race, then adding the bare minimum in armament and equipment to meet Part L

Put succinctly, the aim of this Kickstarter project is to construct a spacecraft compliant with Great Justice Part-L requirements, that can be purchased as a 'turn-key' racer which will be competitive in the 'warbirds' class against craft that may have cost much more money to purchase race-prepare. Especially if they have been purchased from new.

We're calling it the RF-047.

*The Bird:
We've been working on this for over a year already, ever since we finished the Hokum chopper. We'd been hoping to have something finished in time for the recent convention but funding fell behind. The current project schedule has our official first-flight in six months, with a public demonstration of the prototype in time for Greencon.

Basic framing will use a mix of Lunar Titanium and waved Carbotanium, with forward canards, an aft stabilator and a forward swept fixed-wing giving a larger control surface area and ideal maneuvering thruster positioning around the centre of mass for maximum authority.

Control is handled by our first fly-by-wire system, allowing the use of relaxed stability techniques in the spaceframe to ensure peak responsiveness and maneuverability. This allows us to use Pilot-centric maneuvering by coordinating the control surfaces to pivot the spacecraft around the cockpit, reducing forces and stresses on the pilot during hard maneuvering.

Armaments are the bare minimum. An RP-72 sensor set, matched to a lightweight autocannon, and four under-belly hardpoints for ABird-series missiles. Rules require than warbirds racer retain internal armaments such as cannons in operable condition, but without ammunition. Using an autocannon saves carrying the weight of batteries and a power supply.

Propulsion is from a pair of BAT Customer-spec CC100 Cool Cuke reactors, modified by ourselves with a fusion booster to increase the output of the core to four times it's standard rating. These are matched to axial accelerator, dual-spiral collimated ion thrusters. They're not as efficient as a the Quad helix, but are lighter and just a bit tougher and easier to fix.

The fusion booster itself is a local innovation that's seeing some use on the racing circuit already. The customer model replaces the neutron source and moderation shield in the standard Cuke design with a straight neutron injector. The output of the core is throttled by solely controlling the reaction rate of the fusor. It is ultimately safer than using a neutron throttled method.

The fusor and reactor naturally operate in a positive feedback loop if left unchecked. Throttling the fuel supply to the fusor enables its effect to be limited, allowing the reactor output to be effectively throttled. It also ensures that a runaway reaction can never take place. Even with a throttle stuck wide open, the reaction rate is limited to a safe level by fuel flow rate, while an autothrottle prevents overfuelling and power surging at low power levels.

This ensures the ion thrusters are always operating at their most efficient setting, directly coupled to the reactor output.

Those thrusters are then tied in to a full thrust vectoring system, including reversers and speedbrakes. Our aim is maximum speed through cornering rather than straight-line output. With proper tuning on the engines and control software, it should take most long courses at full throttle without lifting. The end result is something that looks like a drifting rally car rather than a banking fighter jet.

*Can I fight with it?

This is not a combat spacecraft. It is an armed spacecraft. It incorporates the bare minimum in weaponry and hardware to meet Part L.

What this also means is that, in a straight fight, nearly any warbird built in the last five years would mop the floor with it. It's fast and maneuverable, and that's it. Really. Unless you're running away or really desperate, don't pin your survival hopes on having one of these in your hangar.

Unless, of course, you retrofit a full-feature fire control system yourself, add structural bracing to cope with maneuvering with a full combat load and reprogram the flight control software to account for the changes in mass distribution.

It can be done. But that's not our aim.

*Where we're at:

We have a spaceframe. We have a functioning set of engines. The frame itself has completed non-destructive structural testing and is certified 'Fit to Fly'. We've flight tested it four times. The first two were failures, ending in an emergency shutdown to keep it from going out of control to self destruction. Third flight was an improvement, but nearly ended in disaster when it began to pitch and roll uncontrollably during landing. The Fourth flight went as expected, ending with a planned in-space recovery.

We have problems with control. That's our big issue. It's not bad during steady flying, but once things start getting more complex. It shows a lot of promise in maneuverability, but at the same time it's almost impossible to hold it on a steady heading.

We've acquired a bare metal 'mule' spaceframe (A series 2A Blackbird) to test the engines, thrust vectoring and control software. We've also begun a flight test program to try and get some data that can be modelled. We've got about three months data.

We've got a lot of data, both from the prototype spaceframe, and Blackbird mule but that's about it. Going from data into something useful is our current sticking point.

*What we need:

We need better software models, both of the spaceframe and of our engines. The engines especially because our maneuverability and control is so dependent on them. A lot of our instability problems seem to come from interactions between the engines, throttle response and the thrust vectoring.

That means paying someone to do it because there's only so much that can be done with DCAMS and the hardware we have. Even as is, it takes it two weeks to run through a simulation of the spaceframe alone. And that's without all the operating data we've gathered in the last three months. We fed that into DCAMS then watched it fall over and die.

We also need to arrange production with a manufacturer. The initial prototype frame was manufactured to order by Hepheastus, but we've been looking further abroad. The initial investment in tooling for something this large is pretty high, and nobody will touch it without us shouldering the cost, or a reasonable chance of a return on the investment.

Then there's GJ certification. Which promises to be interesting in and of itself. It's going to be like road-registering an F1 car. We meet the requirements on paper, we just need to get it through the process which may require modification.

Finally, if all that comes off. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. This isn't a hobby. We're expecting that this will at least pay for itself in some way. The only way people will buy this is if it performs as advertised. The only way they can be certain of that is if it starts racking up podium finishes. We need to run it in competition. And racing isn't cheap.

*The Blackbird 'XR-71'

Originally a series 2A built in 2014, and one of the earliest customer models, it was traded in against the cost of a new Valkyrie and scheduled for deconstruction. We bought it as a bare-metal frame at scrap metal prices and fitted our set of prototype engines, cockpit, control software and thrust vectoring system. Data-Logging hardware goes were the back-seater normally did

The engines were too small for the existing nacelles so we mounted them in the tail. It'll do .14C in short bursts on full-boost, but struggles to match the cruising speed of the standard model. The problem with it is it's a 50 ton spacecraft propelled by engines designed to drive something half that weight.

What's going to happen to her once we're done, I don't know. Most of the interior's gone along with the life support. It only has fuel for a half-hour's flight and those are just fiberglass covers over empty nacelles.

Still, we've learned a lot from her. Even if it takes a peculiar kind of fail to make a Blackbird spaceframe porpoise hard enough to shed pieces. That's how we discovered the throttle surge problem.

We named it XR-71, or Exxor.

*The rewards:

Tier 1: Your name will be displayed onscreen on system startup, 'With thanks'

Tier 2: Tier 1, plus printed cutaway drawings and certificate, signed by all three of us.

Tier 3: As previous, but with a printed 1/72 scale model printed in plastic.

Tier 4: Tier 3, but with a machined metal model.

Tier 5: If you come to Greencon, we'll give you a personal tour of the finished spacecraft, and all of the above.

Tier 6: 1-4, plus a half-hour demonstration flight in XR-71 at Greencon, during which you'll be given a chance to take the controls. (Limited to 20)

Tier 7: We'll put you up out here on Frigga for a few days, for the official first flight of the finished prototype. (Limited to 10)

Tier 7: Hangar tickets for a race in 2024. Meet us. Meet us and the other race teams as they prepare their machines. Get up close and personal with some expensive hardware. (Limited to five)

Tier 8: Test flight in the finished RF-047. We'll put you up comfortably out here for a few days, and you'll get a full technical briefing, and a chance to put the new RF-047 through its paces for a half hour. (Note, must have some relevant flight experience)

Tier 9: Apparently, 'Berkut' is taken. So one lucky individual will get the chance to choose the production name for our new bird. It will have to meet GJ relevant style requirements.

Tier 10: RF-047A1 #001. The first production model. We'll even deliver it in person. (Limited to one, obviously)

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Thanks for listening

-Daryl, Jet and Mackie

...to have a minor scene in one of the Steps where Doug's local friends try to play the Game -- with a special focus on Gatesongs, most likely.  Perhaps a song is suggested and the Loon explains that, let's say, the Blue Blazer Irregulars or Kasuga Ayumu (of all people!) already brought up that one ... and then he tells about the situation it led him into.  Funny anecdotes or just-plain-weird "I still don't know what was going on there" tales.
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Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

There has been a discussion about some tech in one of Cobalt's fics that is derailing the Rockhounds, so I am moving it to its own thread.
The fic is this one:
Following the Curve, 2014
And while it is set in 2014, the date may be retconned to 2023, pending Cobalt's opinion. all the arguments have been under the assumption that this was not abailable in the 201's
The comments are here:

Quote:Rakhasa wrote:

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Quote:ECSNorway wrote:

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Charlie's still working on the gender issues.)

Did something come out of the catboying machine (meant to be used with catgirls) which I saw mentioned somewhere, or did I actually imagine/dream it?

Quote:robkelk wrote:

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As yet, there is no Catboy Machine. (Or, at the least, nobody's revealed one in fiction.) However, there are other ways to get a cat-person biomod; they're just one-off and unreliable...

Quote:Rakhasa wrote:

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Quote:[b]robkelk wrote:[/b]

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As yet, there is no Catboy Machine. (Or, at the least, nobody's revealed one in fiction.) However, there are other ways to get a cat-person biomod; they're just one-off and unreliable...

Are you sure? I was certain ~runs to wiki search~ A-ha! I knewI had not dreamed it:
http://www.fenspace.net/index.php5?titl ... Curve_2014

The part about biomolding  (note the "l"):

However, you're probably thinking about the latest in the realm of Biomods.

The first of these is the recently named Biomolding process. Based on detailed examinations of the infamous Catgirling Machine, this allows the victims of that device to change their appearances to something more comfortable. Interestingly, the biomolding process allows multiple moldings of a subject. This means subjects of this and its parent machine are not technically biomods anymore. It's still very rough tech and there aren't many around, not to mention creating the framework design is complex for even Wave A.I.'s, so don't get your hopes up.
There are of course downsides. The first and most important is that, baring the capture of Dr. Asmodeus Grey or a very good medical complete with 3D-imaging scan and a DNA sample, there is no way to return to a pre-molded state. Second, once your biomolded, that's it. You have too much wave in you to be anything else, and if you aren't careful with the framework you'll lose any abilities (biomod or not) you have. Third, every biomold result has a homeostasis effect. While this means that (baring a rapidly fatal or a brain injury) they'll heal rapidly and completely, any change to the body form will regenerate (including lost limbs). So, cybertech enhancement of biomolds is out for the moment. Fourth, the unfortunate discovery of the Heinrick limit when Jules Heinrick died attempting to remold himself two months after he last did it. Currently, the limit is set at three months between biomoldings. Anyone assisting in a remold of someone under this limit is currently to be charged with being an accessory to murder, and any survivors will be charged with attempted murder.

There are also a couple of specific molding machine types around from the development of the general biomolding machines. The Catboying machine proved fairly popular for those desperate to regain their original gender, even if they are very bishonen afterwards. The Puma-ising machine generates some interest from people wanting to join FESWAT, given as it renders the subject into a version of one of the Shirow Puma Twins. Being an extremely tough, hard-bodied and voluptuous six foot plus amazon is a bit of a bonus apparently (even with the cat ears, which are surprisingly useful according to those currently in action).

It mentions quite a few important breakthrougs; and 2014 seems way too early for most of then. Since this was originally writen for a "2014" that was the next season, we may consider retconning it to 2023...

Edit: Since the article is about general research of unspecified authors, instead of A.C. Peters own research, we may outsource the study of the Catgirl Machine to Jenga, which have a machine, a reseach department and a clear interest in studiing it. An idea: After the Pan terrorist attack thas is beign written now, the catgilrs realize that their medical department are rather lacking, so one or sevealr of then begin to study medicine, with the biomoldong machines as an end resl after some time.

Quote:robkelk wrote:

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Quote:Rakhasa wrote:

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Quote:[b]robkelk wrote:[/b]

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As yet, there is no Catboy Machine. (Or, at the least, nobody's revealed one in fiction.) However, there are other ways to get a cat-person biomod; they're just one-off and unreliable...

Are you sure? I was certain ~runs to wiki search~ A-ha! I knewI had not dreamed it:
http://www.fenspace.net/index.php5?titl ... Curve_2014
...
It mentions quite a few important breakthrougs; and 2014 seems way too early for most of then. Since this was originally writen for a "2014" that was the next season, we may consider retconning it to 2023...

That's probably a good idea... Cobalt, any objection?

Quote:HRogge wrote:

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Quote:Rakhasa wrote:

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Edit: Since the article is about general research of unspecified authors, instead of A.C. Peters own research, we may outsource the study of the Catgirl Machine to Jenga, which have a machine, a reseach department and a clear interest in studiing it. An idea: After the Pan terrorist attack thas is beign written now, the catgilrs realize that their medical department are rather lacking, so one or sevealr of then begin to study medicine, with the biomoldong machines as an end resl after some time.

Yes, there will be some reorientation towards this blind spot...
(Biomolding as 'cat wants other furcolor' machine? )

Quote:Rakhasa wrote:

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Quote:HRogge wrote:

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(Biomolding as 'cat wants other furcolor' machine? )

That's why God created dyejobs As I understood it when I read the fic, it is more like "cat wants to be a dog" -you are still modded, but you alter the biomod a little bit to beter fit your tastes.
But even if biomodling is seriously limited, a simple gender change that lets the rest of the biomod the same would work wonders for the psyche of a number of accidentally biomodded, the least of which aren't the catgirls...

Quote:HRogge wrote:

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Even when CI starts doing research on biotech (like the catgirling machine process), I am not sure they are (from meta perspective) right group to develop things like Biomolding... is Biomolding even related to the Catgirling machine?

Quote:Rakhasa wrote:

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Reading the fic again, it is unclear -the Machine was an obvious inspiration ("We stick someone in the biomolding machine and they come out changed") but wheter the relation is closer.
Still, this looks like it may be an actual accidental discovery: Someone tries to revert the catgirl process, which fails, of course, as it is a biomod. But eventuallly somehow they manage to get a catgirl to return to his original gender, and the process grows from that. I think it should be a different biomold machine for each change -one for catboys, one for wolf-to-fox anthros, one so aquatic Monsters of the Black Lagoon turn amphibian and so can breathe air...
This first machine would be done by someone who is working on the catgirls. Jenga is the one everyone thinks when "catgirl research" come up, but as you said they are more into FTL physics and computer research, not the biological sciences. Who else is there? Well, the other two obvious are the other two catgilr grous, the Cargirl nuns (not right for research, but they are interested in healign the catgilr's traumas, so they could fund the research?) or a as yet unnamed biology lab in Liberatrix.