|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:52 pm
An immense thunderclap announced the arrival of the Nostalgia in Earth's airspace. The computer helpfully displayed such information as local time (8:52pm of January 13th), local language (Brazilian), and locations nearby to hide the ship.
"Well." Tika said. "We made it in one piece after all. Now, where are we going anyway, Mark?" He asked then.
The music cut out at that point. "Yeah, where are we going?" Came a decidedly accomplished voice from the walls. Someone had gotten 'home'.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 6:00 pm
Mark yawned, even though the 'jump' had lasted nothing more than mere seconds, Mark felt sleepy as if he had been on a plane for 8 hours. "Eh? I don't know the lat. and long. but its a couple away from Morocco." He blinked at the second voice that 'spoke' and a small smile crossed his face. "Glad to have you back, Ocarina. You're a better 'person' like this and don't correct me on that."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 6:59 pm
The ship lurched, with a slight protest from the engines.
"Oh, whoops. Tried to shrug." Ocarina explained. "Well anyway, I'll just take us over the Atlantic and scan for vessels with active or inactive power cores, and of a shape not familiar to this planet."
The ship took off at a blistering speed, free to push up to a rate that was slow for it, but still fast compared to anything on the planet.
Tika took the opportunity to indicate the three blocks he'd put on the forward consoles, devoid of buttons at the moment as the ship was being controlled by Ocarina.
"Here we've got nanotech adaptive body armour. Without taking you through it's specs one by one, suffice to say it's damned good stuff. It will mould to your individual form, and withstand the pressures we need to endure to make this dive.
So, why are we here anyway?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:17 pm
"Very nice, Tika. You never fail to impress me with your toys. Why we're here? Oh, well I have a suit of sorts and highest efficient power source is a crystal found on a neighboring planet in my home's system. But in order to use it the way I want to use it, it needs to be synthesized. The process, regardless, takes a couple of months. It won't be like that always, Jake could find a way to have the thing ready in a couple of weeks if I get him more of the stuff. And basically, that's what we're getting. When I got to this reality, I had some cargo with me. I'm sure you can guess what the cargo is. But above all, I want that ******** ship under my name. Except its a research flagship. The only bit of offense it has is turbo-lasers, and that's pretty much it. Its old and outdated and needs some serious repair and upgrade but I want it. I never had a flagship before. All I have is my ******** 'fighter' and that well, doesn't matter." Mark caught his breath and sighed with a smile. He looked at Tika, since he hadn't while he was talking, and grinned. "Not a good enough explanation?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 5:29 am
Tika nodded. "A research flagship, those things always pick up such nice little pieces of data... You have a fighter? Where?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 11:36 am
"Hmm? Oh back home. Just not in Memvus. Its in some impound, but I left it-- Anyway, I can't get to it. That and I don't feel like getting it. Don't want to cause to much trouble for the other faction. And--" Mark growled slightly and sighed. "I need to stop getting all worked up. Anyway, as long as I'm sure the CCF can't get inside the fighter, no mater what they do."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2006 6:40 pm
As the Ocarina raced over the planet, Tika stood from his seat and leaned back against the forward consoles, facing Mark.
"Ever thought that you could get your fighter, strip it of anything useful, and shove the parts in this research ship?"
Almost as if he'd read Tika's mind, Ocarina pulled up schematics for the most probable-used research flagship employed in the time period Mark had outlined.
Well ok, he had read Tika's mind, and Mark's, to get the right ship. The schematics sprang up on the navicolumn's holodisplay unit.
Tika observed the hologram briefly, then turned back to Mark, awaiting his reply.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:17 am
"How about 'No'? The fighter's the size of a Blackbird, maybe bigger due to the engines and the wings. The only thing special about it is the AI, shields, engines and steath systems. It's got no special weapons, except for homing missles and EMP laser, that goes along with the plasma laser. But I love that thing." Mark crossed his arms, staring at Tika to show he was serious. Taking a guess that Tika loved to dismantle things, he didn't his fighter to be on Tika's list. "Let's just worry about getting the crystals then we can get the ship, hell if you want you can use the ship as you please, but as long as I get to call it my own."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 5:37 am
"Alright then... " Though Tika wouldn't have touched the thing at all. Delicate teleporter operations would have transferred systems from the fighter to the hold of the Nostalgia, and then the nanotech cluster could have been programmed with installation parameters.
"When did I say 'special' weapons, anyway?" He waved an arm, dismissive of that question. "I won't be requiring any inferior, sorry, I mean, any other ships. My current one is... adequate."
Ever the lover of superior firepower, Ocarina snorted. "Speak for yourself. More ships equals more guns. More guns equals more firepower. More firepower equals--"
"Equals what?" Tika interjected. "We're not going to be starting any wars lately."
Ocarina only grumbled in response.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 3:58 pm
"Never said you did. But you did mention having something transfered to the flagship. And the ship -is- inferior, so it's alright. I don't care much about that anymore." Mark stopped for a second, as Tika and Ocarina -conversed-. He then got an idea, and practically muttering to himself. "Maybe I'll have to put a hangar in the damn thing and I'll be able to keep the fighter there. Then again... -mumble- "
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 3:15 pm
"Hangars are overrated. You'd be better off installing a limpet lock." Even Mark would know this, that 'limpet locks' were airlocks against which a secondary vessel could dock against a 'mother' vessel permanently, or detach when needed. The airlock connecting the vessels made it easy and fast to access either vessel, and the fact that the carried vessel was external to the carrying vessel saved a lot of time in launching.
"I'd get one for this ship, but--"
"But he doesn't have a seconday ship." Snorted Ocarina.
"Well I don't. Tika defended himself plainly."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 3:53 pm
"Yeah, that is better. That could work." Mark grinned slightly, "Why -don't- you get a second ship? Scared of getting shot down easily? I mean, as far as I'm concerned I never actually seen you fight. I mean you have so many powers and whatnot. I guess you never had to." Mark's grin slipped, realizing this probably wasn't the best thing to say.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:27 pm
"In all honesty, I prefer a good ship-to-ship battle." He pulled himself up onto the forward consoles, legs dangling over the edge, looking for all the world like an older-age boy.
"As for getting a second ship..." He grinned. "Why else do you think I bothered to get a cargo freighter? Not too small, not too big, can still clamp plenty of firepower into it, not to mention more protective devices and a d-engine. Space to store whatever you care to think of in the hold. I toyed with the idea of a single-seat fighter, but dismissed the idea.
Then I thought about a capital ship, but we don't have any on Aastaiaum save for those belonging to the less... insane Cornelian factions, and they're not ours. All we have in the way of capital ship size is even bigger freighters, and like I said; too big."
"We're here." Ocarina announced flatly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 5:01 pm
"Always thinking ahead, Tika." Mark finally got up from his seat, adjust his holsters as they were quite uncomfortably placed throughout most of the trip. "Anyway. Should we suit up? I mean, most of the airlocks are completely inaccessible. But there's one at the front that works perfectly. Unless you'd want to go through the bridge and take the long way. Since that's where I got out... by the bridge. Nice big hole." Mark grinned at the last part of his statement.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 5:35 pm
Tika shifted, slipped from the console he'd sat on. He turned and patted the blocks sitting (the inanimate and unthinking version of) boredly.
"Just copy me exactly." He said, gently throwing one of the blocks to Mark. "Oh, you'll need to use some Aastaian to get it into order, so tell it 'Oiranoke tes lekan'. That tells it to activate and operate under common language commands."
He then took a block for himself, and held it at arm's length in between his palms.
"Oiranoke tes lekan." He started. There was a visible stirring in the surfaces, that of slight ripples in a pond.
"Automould user body. 60% translucence faceplate. Aqua." The NABA block began to ripple violently, and then became as a liquid creeping upwards along Tika's arms, consuming him. As it reached his shoulders it branched upwards and englufed his head, and simultaneously downwards across his chest, around to his back, down his legs, and eventually encasing his feet. The faceplate had already turned translucent, showing Tika mouthing some words, to which the faceplate split vertically, and melted away to either side.
"You want the faceplate to retract, you simply tell it 'Faceplate open.' And then give either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally as an option. Frivolous and pointless settings, but then I don't make the stuff."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
