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[goofing off] If this were Fenspace...
02-20-2009, 10:49 PM
...instead of helping remodel the downstairs bathroom in my parent's house, right now I'd be in Tahiti, negotiating with French officials over landing
a science package on Mercury for CNES.
How about you guys?
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
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Well, A.C. would be working on a method to mass produce (or at least produce in large quantities) the alloys he uses for cybernetics. Mostly using pulleys.
He's about to get VERY BUSY.
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Noah would be finishing off Kohran's brand-new lab module (little knowing that doing so would lead directly to the Kaboomite Incident), thus "completing" the construction of Stellvia. Silly Noah; thinking that Stellvia would ever be completed.
He's also wondering what to do with the other four LOX tanks from the tops of the boosters he used for the station's superstructure. Sora's about to ask to turn one into a marker beacon to drop onto asteroid 1130 Skuld. (Which will give Noah the idea to turn the other three into emergency shelters and drop them in three different craters on Luna. Maybe a small settlement will grow up around one of them...)
--
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
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Mm. Two different possible interpretations of that question.
If it were this very moment in Fenspace, I'd probably be conspiring with a number of friends to violate Federal restrictions on the ownership and use of
handwavium.
If it were simply a morning like this in Fenspace, I'd probably be out at the henhouse collecting eggs. Or starting breakfast after doing so.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Me and Myk would be finishing up the last of a half dozen first cargo runs, at which point, he's taking StarJumper out into an unlikely cluster of
asteroids and seeing precisely what it can do.
--
"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
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Hmmm... What Bob said on the interpretations.
If you meant At This Time, then Ben and Gina would be working out some of the best runs in the Asteroid Belt during a long-haul courier run to the outter
system.
On a day like this... Benjamin would be working on his latest project for the Roughriders: C-130 Herculese in space! They'll even land on Mars, if a bit
roughly. Also, he'd be presenting his daughter, Mayonaka, with her first true weapon...
"It's a stilleto."
"It's kind of small, Poppa. What's so great about it?"
"Because you can hide it someplace like a boot or a bodice and then shiv the bad guy when he gets just close enough... or when you sneak up on them. And,
while small, it's still long enough to pierce the vitals."
Yeah, he loves his girl, but he's pratical. He (and I for that matter) would rather have a daughter that knows how to kill someone effectively than have a
dead daughter and a killer on the loose.
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F isn't in space yet at this point. He's in the process of blowing his savings on the base hull of his fenship though, and figuring out how to aquire
some handwavium.
--
There's a certain radio station located just outside a
certain Boston suburb that puts about 7 V/m through nearby homes.
I'm not sure whether FCC rules would permit the construction of heating
systems based on tuned coils.... - GAWollman
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Quote:Also, he'd be presenting his daughter, Mayonaka, with her first true weapon...
"It's a stilleto."
"It's kind of small, Poppa. What's so great about it?"
"Because you can hide it someplace like a boot or a bodice and then shiv the bad guy when he gets just close enough... or when you sneak up on them. And, while small, it's still long enough to pierce the vitals."
Yeah, he loves his girl, but he's pratical. He (and I for that matter) would rather have a daughter that knows how to kill someone effectively than have a dead daughter and a killer on the loose.
"Oneesan, why is you daddy teaching you to bring a knife to a gunfight?"
"He said that sometimes I'm going to want to be subtle, Helen."
"What's 'subtle' mean? That isn't a word that my daddy uses."
And later (preferably much later), when Helen discovers her pistol isn't as effective in close-quarters combat as Mayonaka's knife is, she'll want to cross-train...
--
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."
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*Chuckles* Yeah. I figured that Mayo-chan would be more of a knife-fighter type anyhow. Her bone-structure is avian-based and she's built very lightly, so
she's much lighter and manueverable. Plus, the sheer fact that she can use her wings to 'push' her through some interesting acrobatics (even before
she can properly fly) gives her some pretty awesome evasion ablity.
As for subtelty, yeah, he'd say something like that. He's the type to think on the somewhat grander scale, so while he knows that subtelty simply will
not work for him, and only barely works for Gina, it fits Mayo-chan like a glove.
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At 1:13 pm Central Time, on a typical day, Blackstone would be engaging in his post-lunch reading and/or meditation, which would be followed by whatever
business presented itself that day (e.g., recording music, handling correspondence, research, troubleshooting, and so on).
At 1:13 pm Central Time, on a typical day, J. would be engaging in his post-lunch conversation with Radical, his fiancee, either by go-phone or across the
table, depending on the team's current location. This would be followed by his afternoon duties or whatever business presented itself that day.
At 1:13 pm Central Time, on a typical day, Nezumi would be engaging in her post-lunch email checking/Web surfing/correspondence with members of the Frequency.
She might possibly be contemplating an afternoon nap, unless Buckaroo had something for her to take care of. She might be craving a cigarette, depending on her
levels of stress.
At 1:13 pm Central Time, on a typical day, Chaos would be engaging in his post-lunch study of various demolition techniques, while "The Detonators"
plays on a streaming webcast. At the same time, he's drawing up a list of ingredients he needs for his next shopping trip. Afterwards, he'll be driving
the bus or practicing with his drums.
Ebony the Black Dragon
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Quote: Quote: Also, he'd be presenting his daughter, Mayonaka, with her first true weapon...
"It's a stilleto."
"It's kind of small, Poppa. What's so great about it?"
"Because you can hide it someplace like a boot or a bodice and then shiv the bad guy when he gets just close enough... or when you sneak up on them.
And, while small, it's still long enough to pierce the vitals."
Yeah, he loves his girl, but he's pratical. He (and I for that matter) would rather have a daughter that knows how to kill someone effectively than
have a dead daughter and a killer on the loose.
"Oneesan, why is you daddy teaching you to bring a knife to a gunfight?"
"He said that sometimes I'm going to want to be subtle, Helen."
"What's 'subtle' mean? That isn't a word that my daddy uses."
And later (preferably much later), when Helen discovers her pistol isn't as effective in close-quarters combat as Mayonaka's knife is,
she'll want to cross-train...
From: a Middle Aged Man with a Guitar, On a Vespa...
To: Mayonaka to be delivered upon her Personal Declaration of Independance, or the Day after her First Kill,
For an Angel who's innocense has been shattered. May she never fall in battle.
1 Rosewood Box 40 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm. Engraved Faithful Always to the one Who Names Me...
1 Missilknife,
2 sheathes
Two Sheathes will be provided 1 suitable for humanoid wear, 1 to be mounted on the Midnight Which presumably has the Same 'Wave aura.
Missileknife
30cm Battlesteel Blade with a 20 cm grip
Installed in grip: 1 Non sentient AI Imprinted on user's personal 'Wave Aura, 1 Grav drive; (Speed type) .3c max speed max, range 5Km.
Quirks:
- 1. Loyalty: Once imprinted on a user's 'Wave Aura and Named the AI of the Missileknife will only follow the users orders.
- 2. Safe Mode: once sheathed The Missileknife stays in its sheathe.
- 3. primary directives: Obey all orders from user, unless said order contradicts the user's safety, defence of User comes before any Kill/Harm
orders.
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Quote: From: a Middle Aged Man with a Guitar, On a Vespa...
To: Mayonaka to be delivered upon her Personal Declaration of Independance, or the Day after her First Kill,
For an Angel who's innocense has been shattered. May she never fall in battle.
1 Rosewood Box 40 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm. Engraved Faithful Always to the one Who Names Me...
1 Missilknife,
2 sheathes
Two Sheathes will be provided 1 suitable for humanoid wear, 1 to be mounted on the Midnight Which presumably has the Same 'Wave aura.
Missileknife
30cm Battlesteel Blade with a 20 cm grip
Installed in grip: 1 Non sentient AI Imprinted on user's personal 'Wave Aura, 1 Grav drive; (Speed type) .3c max speed max, range 5Km.
Quirks:
- 1. Loyalty: Once imprinted on a user's 'Wave Aura and Named the AI of the Missileknife will only follow the users orders.
- 2. Safe Mode: once sheathed The Missileknife stays in its sheathe.
- 3. primary directives: Obey all orders from user, unless said order contradicts the user's safety, defence of User comes before any Kill/Harm
orders.
That... Is awesome. Mayonaka Swordslinger. Her first kill will come at an early age simply because she is that adventurous and independent.
Thing is that she's killed plenty of times before as the Magnificent Midnight during O:GJ. However, it'll hit her differently as a human with
human-emotional responses. This'll make an excellent story. ^_^
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But... but... but the loyal weapon needs a ranged attack. If it doesn't have a ranged attack, it'll be pretty silly to name it "Raising
Heart"...
(Shut up, Noah.)
Sorry...
--
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
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Make it a gunblade?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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It's a self propelled, guided Throwing Knife.
It is capable of traveling just under a third of the speed of light for 5000 meters.
I admit that this could be considered close in range for a space ship battle.
It does however have an AI attached to a gravitic device.
If she wants it to have an attack with more range, then she'll just have to teach it one.
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Wait, this thing moves at a third of the speed of light? That would mean it's a kinetic weapon capable of one-shotting a target with... *does some quick back-of-the-envelope calcs* the equivalent of ~300 tons of TNT.
This may require some rethinking.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
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Yeah, what he said.
There's a Very Good Reason small AIs don't travel that fast, even if they can. Quoting from the writeup of the smallest self-contained AI in Fenspace: Quote:Safety's small size and integral miniaturized space drive, combined with the current theories of a ship's size being inversely proportional to its top speed, potentially makes her the fastest being inside The Limit. However, since Safety has no built-in communications capability, no astrogational skills, no long-range sensors, no armour, and poor vision at the best of times, she has decided against experimenting in this area and has limited herself to a top speed of 10 m/s.
I don't see anything in the knife's writeup hinting that any of these listed limitations, with the possible exception of "poor eyesight", don't apply to it...
--
Rob Kelk
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them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
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Quote: M Fnord wrote:
Wait, this thing moves at a third of the speed of light? That would mean it's a kinetic weapon capable of one-shotting a target with... *does
some quick back-of-the-envelope calcs* the equivalent of ~300 tons of TNT.
This may require some rethinking.
To say nothing of the sonic boom it would cause if it was fired in an atmosphere. I'm going to have to say my vote is "no" on that.
Let's review:
Speed of light: approximately 186,282.397 miles per second.
One-third of the speed of light: approximately 62,094 miles per second
Speed of a bullet: between 600 and 5,000 feet per second, according to the World Book Encyclopedia
Number of feet in a mile: 5280
One-third of the speed of light in feet: approximately 327,857,018.72 feet per second
That's more than 65,500 times faster than the fastest bullets. So ... no.
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Makes for a heck of a door opener though...
Just because it can does not mean it will.
Unless Dramatic Necessity needs it to do so.
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Quote: Manytales00 wrote:
Makes for a heck of a door opener though...
Just because it can does not mean it will.
Unless Dramatic Necessity needs it to do so.
One does not need a fusion bomb to open a door. I still say no.
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I still like the idea myself, for it is full of win and love...
Let's see if we can do a few things to reign this puppy in.
First, to address the issue with 'sensors' let's give it some eyes. Two on the hilt, one on either side of the blade, positioned so they can look
forward or to the sides. Kind of like how the eyes of a T-Rex are positioned - he can still see you past that big snout of his and BTW that is fucking scary.
Just imagine being on the business end of a sword like that and have the thing actually GLARING at you down the length of the blade.
Second - variable speed/energy dependant on situation. This is an easy one. As it has already been stated that the blade has an AI equipped to it, it could
easily be said that it will account for things like traveling medium, target's structural integrity, and the desired amount of damage. So, just as an
example, say Mayo-chan's up against a main battle tank at a distance of 5K. The blade may be 'dumb,' but it would still be smart enough to keep
itself down to, say 1Km/S, and still hit with enough force to at least disable the tank.
Conversely, you can have it traveling at 0.3c in a vacuum to plink some particularly pesky snipers. It'd be cool if it could hit like mono-molecular
filament wire - the attack comes so fast that it hardly registers, bad guys blink wondering what the hell that was, and suddenly die a bloody death. I already
know, though, that given the thickness of the blade that it won't happen.
At any rate, I won't argue with you guys if you feel that the over-all speed must be cut down. I'd be willing to go as low as 0.05c with a
safety-interlock, because while reasonable it's still holy-shit fast. Caveat - safety interlock can be disengaged with approval from a supervisor, aka Ben,
Gina, Jess, Brownwyn, etc...
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To be quite honest I'd be much, much happier if the free-flight speed was subsonic, period. The idea of a knife missile doesn't bug me - it skirts the line a little, but no more than any other combat-oriented AI - but I am not comfortable with the idea of a relativistic melee weapon.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
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I can agree to all of this. Even at .05 C 5000 meters is still less than a blink of an eye round trip. Remember that The AI is also Defensive in Nature. Part
of protecting its Primary User is surviving long enough to do see that she lives through combat. Also Active Locks on the Sheath(s) She will have to draw it
on her own. (although on the sheath for Midnight there is an ejection mechanism, kind of hard to draw the blade if you cant reach it).
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By the way, I went with the Missileknife because it is possible to wave all of the Individual parts seperately, and assemble them later. Maby the Thing should
be delivered dissasembled, and have assembly as part of the Naming Ceremony.
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I can deal with the subsonic speeds. What's the vibe on the idea of 'sensors?'
I like the idea of assembly as well. It certainly lends a bit more of a personalized touch.
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