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Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Ok, this is my first attempt at a story, ever. I just thought I'd give it a shot. I enjoy writing it's trying to figure out how to take the story that's the hard part. This will be a slow moving story, as it is hard for me to find the time to write, so don't expect it to keep up with the other threads. But all comments are welcome, good or bad. As long as I get some feedback. Please excuse the grammer and so forth, that has never been my A subject. I hope you all enjoy the story.
The story may seem to be unfinished at the end of some sections. But it will pick up where left off in the next installment. Edit: I'm going to eventually transform it into a webpage type deal and have some images and so forth of different events. This is on down the road though, once the story has developed some. [ June 13, 2003, 20:00: Message edited by: Ragnarok ] |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
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Introduction, Part 1. 2283.3. Qullum was walking along one day on his way to work. He suddenly stops, his normally white eyes with a hint of yellow turn to a pure bright white, he falls to his hands and knees, and then he starts to scream. He can’t stop screaming. He does everything in his power to try and stop that awful screeching in his head. He then falls to his side. He lays there for a good 10 to 15 minutes before it suddenly stops, and his eyes return to normal. He gets up, as if nothing ever happened to him. He continues his trip to work, not knowing that a single thing that just happened to him. On his way home from work Qullum once again suddenly stops, again, falls to his hands and knees, and starts to scream in pain. He can’t stop it. Cannot stop the…noise. There is absolutely nothing in his power he can do to stop it. Another 10 to 15 minutes pass, then, just as suddenly as it started, it stops. He gets up, completely oblivious as to what just happened to him, he continues on his journey home. Qullum was sitting at home with his wife, Shearma, and his son, Qullum Jr., watching the evening news. “Welcome to tonight’s broadcast of HevoraNews, I’m Zor’ka Mi’cle. The news piece of the hour is that the 5-year civil war between the Hevordah and the Hevordag is finally showing signs of coming to a close. It is unknown as to how this happened, though. The Hevordag were holding off the Hevordah people and actually pushing them back. But then, suddenly, the Hevordag just stopped fighting. It has been said, however, that if something happened to their Overlord, even if for a brief moment, that the Hevordag would crumble. So we can only assume that something has happened t…wha…this just in… it’s now been brought to the attention from one of our reporters on location in Ho’og, where all the action is happening as we speak, that they have seen the Overlord of the Hevordag faction stepping outside his palace and just drop to his hands and knees, and then start screaming. He sat there for at least 15 minutes screaming at the top of his lungs, apparently he could control it.” Then suddenly, Qullum too starts to scream. His wife panics, her skin goes from a normally purplish tent to a purple and green mix – this indicating fear, and worry. For the third time in one day he falls to his hands and knees and screams. No matter how hard he tries, he just cannot stop it. Not knowing what to do, Shearma grabs her communicator and calls the Emergency Room. They immediately teleport her husband to Emergency Unit 3 where they begin working on him. “Nurse, what’s his life signs?” “Everything seems to be in check, his BP is slightly high, and his heart rate is high, but those signs are to be expected since he is after all screaming his lungs off.” “Hmmm, Ok… get the Cortical Stimulator; we’ll see if this will at least stop his screaming for now. Then we can run some more tests.” Just as the nurse was handing the Doctor the Stimulator, Qullum suddenly stops screaming and awakens. Bewildered by the fact that he is in the Emergency Room he begins to ask questions. ”What the hell am I doing here? I was in my living room watching the evening news with my wife and son, and next thing I know I’m sitting here.” The Doctor thinks to himself, “What the hell?!” “Sir, I’m afraid I don’t have those answers for you. I’m still trying to figure out what the hell just happened here. Your wife called and said you were screaming your lungs off so we had you teleported here. I was just about to administer the Cortical Stimulator, when suddenly you stopped screaming and woke up.” “What do you mean I was screaming? I already told you, I was sitting in my living room with my wife and son, next thing I know I’m here. I feel fine, and with all due respect, I think I’d know if I was screaming or not.” “Well think what you want, but we have it all on the surveillance cameras if you want us to prove it to you.” “No, that won’t be necessary. I suppose if my wife says that I was screaming that’s enough for me.” “Ok, now if you don’t mind we’re going to run a few more test to try and figure out what exactly happened here.” “Alright, do whatever is necessary.” Somewhere else in the galaxy. “Ok Massster, it has been done. Their Pssychic powerss are coming to the ssurface. It iss only a matter of time before thiss, Qullum, figuress out what iss the causse to all his problemss.” A tall dark sleek man steps out of the shadows, to a point where only his face his showing, he then says, “Very well. Then we sshall ssee if the ancient textss are correct in ssaying that the Hevordah are the chossen oness to rule the galaxy.” [ October 10, 2002, 05:08: Message edited by: Ragnarok ] |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
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The story is looking good, but it could probably use a little background info. I am seeing humans in the story, rather than Hevordah. |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
GREAT start! I will be following this story closely! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
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The are human in a way. The only difference is that they are much taller, and live much longer. Also they breath Hydrogen, and they have "Powers" which will unfold in the next couple installments. But I didn't want to use a human race, but I didn't want to try and use a completly alien race either since I am a newbie at writing stories. Doing it this way simplifies it for me to a certain extent. However, I will also try to add a little bit more alieness into the story. Quote:
[ October 04, 2002, 20:07: Message edited by: Ragnarok ] |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Note: Introduction part 2 is here. Once again, feedback is welcome. I wrote most of this one this morning. I just finished up a little bit tonight. I'm working on Part 3 now. Long introduction I know. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif Do ya'll think I should change the names to be more 'alien'? I'm thinking about it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction, Part 2. 2 days later. The Doctor walked into Unit 3 where Qullum was admitted. His wife and son happened to be there at the time. “Hey Jr. would you mind excusing me and your folks for a little while, we have to discuss a few big people things.” Little Jr. starts to whine as he is asked to leave. “Ohhh, do I gotta? I want to stay here and talk too.” “It is probably best if you don’t son, you can go play in the play room with the other kids while Mommy and Daddy talk to the Doctor, ok?” “Gee, fine! But I never get to be in the room when you guys talk.” As Jr. stands up to leave he gives his mom a hug and kiss but gives his dad an evil look as if to mock him for not letting him stay in the room. The Doctor proceeded to look at Qullum’s chart; then he took a seat knowing that this could end up being a long conversation. ”Qullum, after all the tests that we ran over the past 48 hours, we cannot find the source to your screaming spells. In fact, in my 80 years of medicine, I’ve never seen anything like this before. And I’ve been all over the world practicing. I even served the Hevordag when they first rose against Hevordah. In the 2 days that you have been here, you have had 6 spells of your screaming. There is no medical and/or scientific explanation for what is happening to you. You do, however, seem to be consistent with your spells, even though you do not have any control over them. Here are the stats.” The Doctor reaches across the space that was between him and Qullum and Shearma, he handed them a H-Padd to look over. It contained information regarding the spells that Qullum had been having. This is what it had to say. “--Number of spells thus far: 7 that we know of. --Average time between spells: 8 hours. --Average time spells Last: 12.3 minutes. --Scientific findings as to the cause: None. --Medical findings as to the cause: None. --Shortest spell: 9 minutes. --Longest spell: 17 minutes. --Cause: Unknown.” Qullum and his lovely wife of 45 years look at each other momentarily, as Shearma hands the H-Padd back to the Doctor she asks, “But how can there possibly be no scientific or medical explanation as to what is happening to my husband? There has to be some reason for this. Do you have any possible links to other cases like this, anywhere?” “I have been in contact with professionals around the world trying to figure this mystery out. I even called my old colleague from the Hevordag Institute. He did mention one factor that I find puzzling. Last night the Civil War came to an end, and the Hevordag surrendered to the Hevordah. They are trying to figure out why it just came to an end as it did. The Hevordag were holding their own, in fact they were pushing the Hevordah out of their territory. But then suddenly their Overlord came out of his palace screaming.” A look of shock and wonderment overtake the faces of Qullum and his beautiful wife. They looked at each other wondering…No, it couldn’t be…” I had that colleague of mine do some research on this. He found that the Overlord went into his spell at the exact same time as you husband did, and they both came out of their respective spells at the exact same time. They took the Overlord to the Hevordag Institute and he has been having the same spells every 8 hours, each of them Lasting an average of 12 minutes or so.” Once again, both shock and curiosity overcome Qullum and Shearma. Then Qullum breaks the silence. “Doctor, Do you think, or are you trying to say that the Hevordag Overlord and I are somehow linked?” “I don’t know Qullum, but I highly doubt that you are linked. It’s just simply not possible. Only in the telenovels is this possible. But right now it seems to be the only explanation.” “But, how can this be possible?” Shearma asked. “I cannot say for sure on that either Shearma. Currently my colleague is in the process of trying to figure that out as well as many other professionals in the science lab downstairs.” Qullum tried to absorb all that has happened to him in the past 36 hours. He then asks the Doctor, “Hey, Doc, why is it that I don’t remember any of my spells?” “Well, that is one thing we have been able to figure out. When you go through one of your spells, one section of your brain is ‘cut off’ from the rest so to speak. This section of the brain controls your memory, once this part of your brain is ‘cut off’ from the rest, it cannot remember anything that happened to you in that time period. However, we have not figured out why this part of your brain is ‘cut off’ from the rest due to your spells. We are looking into it now.” “I see,” says Qullum pondering what he is hearing. Will I suffer any trauma because of these spells, Doctor?” “That is also unknown. It is a 50/50 chance that you could. I do not want to say for sure yet.” As the Doctor finished his statement the nurse came and said that he had a transmission coming in from Soo’gah – his colleague from the Hevordag Institute. “Excuse me, I have to take this.” “Of course.” The Doctor stood up, nodded at the couple, and then walked out the door. At that very moment Qullum goes into another spell. He starts screaming, he tries ever so hard to control it, but it is controlling him. He falls off the bed and onto the floor, screaming ever more. “DOCTOR!” Shearma yells as she reaches for the nurse’s call button, “He’s going into another spell!” The Doctor and a couple nurses rush back into the room and start running the same old tests that they run on him every time he has a spell. “He will be ok Shearma, we just have to wait it out.” ”I know this, but it still scares me to see my husband laying there helpless not being able to control thi…” Shearma shed a tear, as she was unable to speak anymore. She went to the waiting room to rest her eyes a little bit and wait for her husband to recover. 15 minutes later. Shearma was just dozing off to sleep as she has not had hardly any sleep in the past 24 hours, when the nurse came in and said, “Shearma, Shearma…” Shearma being the heavy sleeper she is took a couple minutes to respond to the nurse’s calls. “Huh, wha? Oh, I’m sorry…” Shearma said as she rubbed her tired eyes. “It’s just I haven’t had any sleep in the past 24 hours.” “It’s ok, no need to explain, I’m a nurse, I’m used to no sleep, so I would probably be doing the same thing if I were in your shoes.” At that Shearma smiled at the nurse, then the nurse informed her that her husband’s spell had stopped and that it is ok for her to go in and see him now. “Ok, thanks for letting me know. I’ll be in there in a couple minutes.” The nurse just smiled and walked away. Shearma made her way back to Unit 3 where her husband was staying. “Qullum, you had another spell. You feeling ok?” “Yeah, of course, I’m fine as always. But… I actually remembered this spell. I know what happened to me during that time…” The saga continues... [ November 20, 2002, 04:00: Message edited by: Ragnarok ] |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Bumperama.
I rewrote the first 2 parts. I changed the names to have a "alien" feel to them. I also added a little bit more detail to some areas. Not much but it's a bit better. There's going to be a couple more introduction sections as the story leading up to the game is what's going on. I don't know exactly how many installments there will be though. The next installment, however, I may start giving them the "Chapter" title, and giving the chapters names. |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Note: Here is the third installment. It is the final introduction part of the story. Next installment will be actual in-game story line. Again, comments and suggestions are welcome.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1, Discoveries. “What? You remember?! Honey, that’s great…I think…” said Shearma as she heard the news. “Yeah… great…” says Qullum as he looks out his 3rd floor window, “I remember screeching, horrible screeching. The pain…it was unimaginable. Just when I thought I could not take any more, it stopped. Just like that,” said Qullum as he snapped his fingers, “then, I heard what sounded like people talking. But I could not recognize the voices; they were from someone I didn’t know. In fact, they didn’t sound like they were Hevordian at all; they had a lisp to them. It was as if they were… not from this planet, or race, but from outer space. At first I could not understand them. But the longer I lay there I started to understand words. Not whole sentences but words, but just as I was about to figure out what they were saying, I woke up here. ” Shearma just squinted her eyebrows, or what was supposedly her eyebrows and looked at husband perplexingly. Once again her skin turned from a purplish color to a purple and green mix. But this time not out of fear has had occurred that dreadful day her husband had his first spell, but this time out of worry, worry for his well-being, and from what he had just said about these ‘aliens’ it was beginning to seem like he was ‘going nuts’, as the young ones would say. “Doctor, would you excuse my husband and I, I would like to speak to him alone for a couple minutes.” “Sure thing Shearma, I’ll be down the hall if you need anything.” Shearma smiled at the Doctor as he walked out. She waited for him to walk completely out then she went over and shut the door for some privacy. She turned around and smiled at her husband, but it wasn’t a smile of ‘I love you’, it was more like “What the Hell…” “Qullum, about these ‘aliens’ that you speak of, what are you talking about? There are no such things as aliens you know that. That is just a bunch of stories that are told to entertain the young ones. It helps develop their imagination.” “Yes, you are right, that was what I believe. Until I started having these spells, well, at least till I actually remembered what happened during them. This was not just a hallucination; it was not just a dream. It was real, very real. At one time in my life I told these stories, and I would laugh at the though of aliens out there. But now with this ‘vision’ if you will, I believe there is life out there. And I believe we have to go out there and find it. This ‘vision’, it is our calling from the Goddess herself.” Shearma had a look of disbelief at what her husband was saying when he was talking about life out there. But now this? What is this talk about a ‘Goddess’? What the hell is he thinking? Or…was he thinking at all? He had to be thinking, just not very straight obviously. These spells must have done something to his brain, that has caused him to start believe in aliens and a Goddess. As Shearma continued to ponder over these things, her husband spoke up. “Do you not get it? There is a Goddess out there watching over us, and the many other races out there. We are not alone. There is more then one planet in this universe. And it is our jobs to find those other planets and extend the Hevordah to many other solar systems.” Shearma just shakes her head at how strange her husband is sounding. “Honey, listen to yourself! You’re claiming the impossible! There are no other planets out there. Even if they were, where are they? Our planet is located in a nebula; planetary scans show no other planets in this nebula. Pictures taken from the most powerful telescopes on Kriekaal don’t show anything but a huge puff of gas out there.” “And how would you know this?!” Amy just laughed at this comment. “Honey, I work for the scientific lab & exploratory studying the nebula if you’ve forgotten.” “Oh…right… I…uhh…forgot…” said Qullum. He then playfully looked at his wife but then immediately went back to a serious manner. “But still Shearma, there is life out there! I know it! I heard the Goddess herself say so!” “Then where do they live Qullum? Tell me that, where?” At this point Shearma was getting upset at her husband. “I told you! They are on another planet in another solar system.” Said Qullum trying to argue his point. “When I had my Last spell I did manage to make out that the voices, whom I will call the Shar’Tol from here on out, mention something about “Warp Gates”, and they mentioned that these “Warp Gates” can lead you into a whole other solar system. From just a few light years away or many, many light years away.” “Qullum” began Shearma, “this just isn’t possible. We have run scans after scans and studied the nebula, there is nothing out there but different gases.” “You are right and wrong about that. To you there are only gases because you aren’t scanning on the right frequencies.” At that, Qullum grabs a H-Padd and inputs some information. “Here, take this to the exploratory tomorrow and scan on these frequencies and at these coordinates. There you will find the Warp Gates that the Shar’Tol were talking about.” “Qullum, you know how I feel about this. And you know how everyone else is going to feel about this. They are all going to think you are crazy, here lately I almost think you are myself. But I will take this into the lab tomorrow just to prove to you that there are no “Warp Gates” out there. I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?” “Sure thing,” said Qullum, “I will be here. Where do you expect me to go? They aren’t going to let me out of here till they find something wrong with me, which will not happen. Oh, and thanks, I appreciate what you are doing.” At that Shearma just simply nodded and gently kissed her husband and left the room. It had been a long day for Gorgas family. Many hours spent in one single room today discussing the spells. Then Qullum thinking that there is a Goddess, and other planets, and races. It was all nonsense to most of the hospital staff. Even for Shearma herself, she could not believe it. It just was not possible. They were in a nebula and they were the only race, on the only planet in the universe. Or where they… The next Day… The day after Qullum discovered that he was supposedly remembering what took place during his spells, Shearma took the H-Padd her husband had given her to take to the exploratory to scan on the frequencies and coordinates that were indicated. Shearma being the team leader of her division barked out commands to everyone. She then took a sip of Vordian Tea, which could only be found in the most remote parts of Kriekaal. Then she walked over to Cadet Jotag, who happened to be a long time friend of the Gorgas family, and made a special order. “Jotag, delay your assignment for now. I got something a little more important for you and I to work on. I need you to set the long-range scanners to run a multi transiting frequency at 137.82-5.” “Yes ma’am. But where would you like me to scan?” “Jotag, drop the formality, you have been working with me long enough to know that you do not have to call me ma’am while on the job. Shearma will do just fine.” Jotag just grinned evilly then piped up in a sarcastic way; “Yes ma’am…” Shearma just gave him a look of death if he had ever seen one. She then said, “Ok, enough witty remarks for now Jotag. Back to the matter at hand. Set the scanners to scan the coordinates of 192 mark 13.5-7. Prepare to initiate scanning. Do it Jotag.” “Aye Shearma,” he said in a professional tone, “initiating scan. The scan should be done in about 25 minutes.” “Thanks, now we wait…” 20 minutes later… “Scanning is complete Shearma, results coming in at scan-station 7.” “Alright, lets see if my husband knows what he is talking about then.” Shearma stood up from scan-station 1 where she normally works and walks over to station 7. She swiftly punches in a few codes to unlock the station and she starts pondering over the information being brought in by the scans. “Well this all seems to be in order, nothing that we have not seen before; gases, a few space rocks, more gases.” Shearma continues to look over the information which seems to all be normal readings. Then she spots something not so ordinary. “Jotag, come look at this, tell me what you see.” Jotag left his station he was working at and walked over and lean over Shearma’s shoulder to view the information she was looking at. “What the…what is that?” “I do not know, I was wondering the same thing, it appears to be the usual gases’ but they are more concentrated then usual; and they appear to be swirling in a way. It is as if there is a Vortex (tornado) in space at those coordinates. I wish I could get a more detailed scan, but technology at this point will not allow it. Ok, I want you to do every possible scan on all frequencies and resolutions and run a level 1 diagnostic. I want to have a general idea of what these are by the time I return.” “May I ask where you are going?” said Jotag as Shearma picked up her jacket and walked into the lift. “I am going to the hospital to speak to my husband. I will return shortly.” At that the lift doors shut and Shearma headed to the hospital. Arriving at the hospital Shearma headed for her husband’s room. “…Another fire as broken out at the mining plant in Ku’lah killing 3 and injuring 22 others as an uprising of Hevordag terrorists have set a bomb in facility 25. That is the news update for the hour, I am Zor’ka Mi’cle signing off.” Shearma arrived to find her husband playing with their son. “Hey” said Shearma as she leaned over and gently kissed her husband. She then picked up her son and gave him a hug and a kiss, “And how are you big guy?” As Qullum reached for the holo-control to shut off the view channel he began to speak, “I am doing just fine.” Shearma rolled her eyes and in a frustrated voice she replied, “I was talking to Jr.” “Mom! Guess what?! I beat dad at Galactic Chess!” “Well that’s great honey, but let me in on a little secret, I can beat daddy at Galactic Chess.” As Qullum looked at his wife in a annoyed manner, he couldn’t hold a straight face, he had to smile at the comment, he then said, “Hey, how did the scans turn out? Did you find anything?” Shearma slowly looked down to her hands where she held a H-Padd with the most current information from the scans. Qullum look down to her hands as well and then he reached out and grabbed the H-Padd. He began to go over the information in a hurry to see what she found out. “Ha! I told you there were warp-gates!” “Now wait just a minute Qullum. Just because there are swirling concentrations of gases’ at the coordinates you provided” argued Shearma, “ does not mean a thing right now. For all we know this could be just a common phenomenon!” “’Common phenomenon’ what are you kidding me? Since when have you seen enough concentrations of gases like this in one sector of space to call it ‘common’? You do not know that for sure! It is just as likely to be warp-gates that the goddess spoke of.” “True, you got a point there. But lets not jump to conclusions just yet. We have a lot of detailed scanning we have to do before we can make a assumption either way.” “But you yourself are thinking that these are not just ‘common phenomenon’. You think these have to be something of significance.” “How do you know what I am thinking or what I am not?” “Well for starters, I have been married to you for 45 years, that is enough time to grow and understand what a person is thinking. Plus while you were gone Last night I had another spell. But it wasn’t a normal spell. After this spell I seemed to be able to read peoples minds. I tested it out on a couple nurses and I can indeed read their mind. I was able to successfully tell what they were thinking 9 out of 10 times. But also this time I controlled the spell. I understood the voices, the conversations. They were…the conversations of everyone on Kriekaal. I- I am telepathic now Shearma. I don’t know how but I am.” “This is…this is amazing. I never thought this would be possible, that it was only for the children in their stories. I cannot believe I’m saying this but…I am starting to believe everything you are saying. So far everything you have said has indeed come to be. The scans showed up mysterious phenomenon, you can read peoples minds now. This all is just…just overwhelming, but at the same time I can understand it all. But I cannot and will not believe those swirls of gases are ‘warp-gates’ until I can get more detailed scans. But with our technology right now it doesn’t look like we can do that. We must get funding back into the researchers guild. We must begin to explore this system. Now I still do not believe there are other planets out there or other beings, but we still need to explore.” “It is about time you see things my way. Ok, if you do not want to believe in other life that is fine, but in time you will see that there is life out there. In time you will believe.” “Maybe I will. But for now what should we do?” “Well Shearma, we first need to start up the research developments again. We need to convince the High Lord that there is a necessity to get into space, to explore this system and investigate those swirls of gases. I feel that each and every one of us have this unique power, we just have to search for it.” Over the next 100 years the Gorgas family held numerous fundraisers to gather funds to provide the researching guild they opened. The High Lord laughed at their arguments and sent them away without ever a second thought. The Gorgas family did not allow this to get the best of them, but they more then ever tried to convince the public of the findings. They held rallies in public squares trying to gain members in the space program that they had named, “Gorgaspace, INC.” Shearma and Qullum raised their son to be a great public speaker they thought him the ways of the goddess herself. The family uncovered and learned how to control their newfound powers. One day they would use these powers to help people; maybe not Hevordians, but possibly even other races in space. Yes, one day they would reach outer space; one day they would prove their High Lord wrong for turning them away. One day…they would explore the galaxy. |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Bump
No comments? No one read it? I guess that just shows I suck at writing! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon6.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
*blinks hard once or twice*
Eyes... Tired... So... many... Italics... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif Good stories; keep em up. |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
NO, Ragnarok, everyone sucks at reading! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Thanks man! I was beginning to think no one read these.
And don't worry about the Italics, that was Last installation with them being used 100% of the time. From here on out they will hardly be used. But thanks again for the comment. I feel the next installment will be one of the better ones so far. At least it looks like it so far that it will be. |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Has to be! The tale is good. Even if it text is alittle hard to read. The tale isn't.
OK, I said my peace! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Note: Finally another installment of the story. I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it. I don't know when the next one will be out so stay tuned.
---------------------------------- Chapter 2 Dawn of a new Era 2399.8 It has now been 116 years since the Gorgas family went through their ordeal, and discovered that they had telepathic abilities and also the discovery of the swirling gases in 3 different sectors of their galaxy. They have come along way in their research, means of travel have changed dramatically, their home planet Kriekaal has changed leaders two times during this time period and it seemed as if another change of Over Lords was about to take place. Qullum Gorgas died 27 ½ years ago from a fatal explosion in the laboratory when studying new types of engines. Shearma was devastated, and because of this, she only lived another 4 years before she too passed away. Once she was gone no one was left to run GorgaSpace, so the company shut down for the next 2 years, then, the son of Qullum and Shearma Gorgas became of age to continue in his fathers footsteps, he re-opened GorgaSpace and continue the research that his father was unable to finish. Because of this research Qullum Jr. was able to design a engine capable of speeds unimaginable, he name this engine the Ion Engine mark I; mostly because of its specific use of Ions to propel whatever piece of matter it was attached to at great speeds. He designed a few different hull sizes that this engine could be attached to. In his tests he had hoped that each of these ships could hold up to as many as 6 of these engines without the pressure ripped the hull apart. Along with these hulls that Qullum designed he came up with a robotic component that could be attached to a hull, if big enough, and its robotic arms would build a rather large item in space. All of these inventions/discoveries ran perfectly in simulations, now it was his duty to test these items out in real time. Once they have been proven to work 100% fail safe, he would take it a step farther, he would construct a hull capable of taking Hevordian Civilians and/or Soldiers into outer space and exploring what his father had deemed true. To explore these swirls of gases, that were called ‘warp gates’ by his father and to finally prove whether his father was insane or not. It was the 8th month of a 10-month year for the Hevordians. At the early parts of the 8th month Qullum began the process of getting a permit to launch an, ‘orbital space yard’ as Qullum had deemed it, and from there to build a prototype exploring vessel equipped with the newest sensors known to the Hevordian people. It took 5 long weeks of debates, but Qullum finally brought substantial evidence to the front that would tip things in his way. He had brought much evidence to the fore but it was never enough for the High Judger to rule in favor of allowing him a permit. He had brought in what his parents had found. He related to them the whole story on how they found them; his father’s spells, his telepathic ability, his communication with the goddess. But to no avail, the High Judger always laughed at even the idea of these swirling bits of gases actually being warp-gates. He never once for a second would consider the slightest possibility of these being warp-gates. That is, until now. Qullum had seen how the current scanners were not providing sufficient evidence to be granted a permit, so he modified the current scanners to where they could run a continuous feedback of the swirls of gases. Doing so helped him out in his argument greatly; as doing so allowed him to catch - on data records - an object emerging from one of these gas anomaly’s. With further study he found this object to be a chunk of rock, about one quarter the size of Kriekaal. But then the gases of this system ate at it until it was no more. Qullum brought this new line of evidence to the High Judger, he didn’t have the highest of spirits taking it to him, but he knew he had to try, for his father’s sake. The High Judger went over the data and was simply astonished; he could not believe what he had just seen happen. Because of that he went forth to issue a permit to GorgaSpace, Inc. allowing them to launch any space flight vehicles they wanted so as much as it didn’t severely damage the planet and the social activities thereon. But it was only the first step. Qullum now had to get the approval of the Board. The process had taken him 7 ½ weeks. That is 7 ½ weeks he would no longer have to further his studies into the unknown, 7 ½ weeks he would not have to perfect the hull designs he had come up with. But no matter, it was the beginning of a new time for the Hevordah people. Soon they would be exploring the galaxy. 2399.9 – 6:30am It was a beautiful morning on Kriekaal; the sun was just rising across the plains of J’tor, the capital city of Kriekaal. As the sun came up it spread light throughout the country land, it shined an eerie red that was common due to the red gases from the nebula. As it reached the main office building at GorgaSpace Inc. it reflected off the windows and onto the pond that was positioned in front of the building. Inside the main plant of GorgaSpace Qullum was already a couple hours into his work preparing his presentation that he was due to give in the afternoon in front of the Board committee. Qullum ran around his office gathering all the information he would be presenting to the Board in hopes of them approving the first space flight. He knew it would be a long shot but he had not come this far to just turn around now. No, he was not about to give up on his and his fathers dream. Even if the Board declined his attempt this time, he would try, try again until he finally achieved his dream. 1:00pm. Qullum began his journey to the massive Complex that he would give his presentation in. But it was not going to be in front of just the Board members, but it was going to be in front of at least 100,000 people at The Complex along with the millions that would be watching from the hologrid. This was not just a small matter that would concern only those interested in it. But it was a matter that the whole planet was anxious to hear about. They wanted to know just what it was exactly this Qullum fellow thought was out there. They would find out in only a matter of hours, as the conference was about to begin. 1:25pm. Once Qullum arrived he gathered his bag and information and then made for the temporary office that they had set up for him to make final preparations in. There were many news reporters at The Complex covering the event. They were trying to get an interview out of him but he did not answer any questions, he only made the simple statement. “You will find out all you need to know when I give my presentation. Now if you will excuse me I must start preparing.” For the next 35 minutes Qullum ran over his presentation and made minor adjustments here and there making it easier to understand and a little bit more to the point. He was reading over some new readings he had just received from headquarters of GorgaSpace when he heard a chime, followed by a voice. “Qullum Gorgas, would you please report to backstage. Qullum Gorgas, to the back stage. Thank you.” Qullum then just stared off in front of him and took a deep breath. “I recon that means me.” He thought to himself. 1:55pm. There was much chatter taking place in The Complex, people were talking and carrying on conversations about what they expected to happen during the events about to take place. Then the Chairman of the Board approached the podium to begin the session. “Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention. Would you all kindly find your seats? The session will begin shortly. Thank you.” After that the crowd calmed down and found their respective seating. Meanwhile on the hologrid, special news bulletins came across the screen on all frequencies. “Good afternoon, and welcome to this special edition of HevoraNews I am Zor’ka Mi’cle. As you all are aware by now, Qullum Gorgas, President and CEO of GorgaSpace Inc. will be offering a presentation to the Board of High Leaders at two o’clock this afternoon. We will be covering all this action live while it happens. As it is now the Chairman of the Board is stepping up to the podium. Lets look in now as we cover it all live here on HevoraNews.” 2:00pm. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” began the Chairman, “again, may I have your undivided attention? We are gathered here today to listen to a special presentation that the President and CEO of GorgaSpace – Qullum Gorgas – has prepared. Let us therefore give him our full attention as he delivers this discourse.” The Chairman then stepped away and walked off the stage. The crowd applauded as Qullum Gorgas stood up from his seat in the front row and took a deep breath then stepped up to the podium. Qullum looked around The Complex collecting his thoughts and settling his nerves. As he looked around he spotted many news reporters covering the event, he saw family, friends, employees of GorgaSpace, and also some protestors that had hated him and his family ever since this whole thing started. Qullum took a final deep breath and began his presentation. “First of all, I would like to thank you all for taking the time out of your busy lives to come here this afternoon. As the Chairman brought out I am Qullum Gorgas Jr. President and CEO of GorgaSpace Inc. Our goal at GorgaSpace is to one day achieve space travel and even make it out of our own system that we have come to know so well as the Kriekaal Nebula.” “You may wonder, however, ‘what is the point of going out of our own system since there is no other planets or anything else out there? Why should we bother finding out if there are other planets out there? And how can we get out of our system? Our most advanced scanners cannot even see the end of the nebula if there even is one.’ Well, those are very valid points. Today I plan on revealing to you information on each of these questions that will hopefully change your mind as to how you look upon these things.” “The first question was ‘what is the point of going out of our own system since there is no other planets?’ But imagine if you will…Asteroid fields, planets, endless plains of stars, another nebula system, and space storms. Countless star systems filled to the brim with different gases and other raw minerals. Now imagine being able to reach out to all this in just a matter of months from now. Imagine our race exploring these systems with advanced technology that is currently under the works. Imagine having colonies of our people on other planets. Yes, imagine our people as space explorers; not just people who stay on one planet with no purpose waiting to die.” “Now everything I just told you to imagine, it is very possible, and it is in the near future for the Hevordian race. I plan on making this all a reality; I plan on building the first ever space-baring vessel. No, I take that back, GorgaSpace” Qullum said with a slight nod, “plans on building the first ever space-baring vessel. No more will we be stuck on our planet with nothing to do. No more will we have to worry about over population. That brings us to our second question, ‘Why should we bother find out if there are other planets out there? Yes, you may not realize it, but Kriekaal is over populated and our leaders have kept it from the general public fearing that ones might overreact and cause trouble. If the Hevordians keep multiplying at the rate that they are right now, in just a matter of five years we risk using up so much land for homes and businesses that we will not have sufficient land to produce food. Of course the result of this would cause ones to starve and diseases to spring forth and slowly kill off the population.” Qullum stood there a minute observing the crowd for a minute letting the information sink in a little bit, and then he continued to speak. “Something has to be done right now to prevent this situation from rising. We cannot just sit back and wait for the problem to occur, we cannot just wait for people to die before we do something about it. We know that this will indeed happen so why not take action right now to solve it? My solution is to get a space station built and launched, build some exploration vessels and find planets that we can colonize and slowly move population to these planets. This will solve the issue on over population.” “You may be saying to yourselves by now, ‘but there are no planets out there. You should know that Mr. Gorgas.’ Well, as I mentioned earlier imagine that there are planets out there. We have discovered information that may lead to us finding other planets. I have brought that information with me today to show to all of you.” Once Qullum finished his statement he pulled out a control device from his pocket, he pushed a couple buttons and the huge backdrop behind him slowly began to raise up to reveal a massive screen. Qullum stepped off to the side and continued his presentation. “This brings us to our third and final point today. ‘How can we get out of our system? The most advanced scanners cannot even reach the end of the nebula if there even is one.’ Well this is probably the most logical question that will be discussed today. The answer to it is not a definitive one but we are pretty certain what we have found is true due to the evidence that has been found. We’ll start with what we believe. We feel that near the edge of the nebula in which our planet resides that there is what we call ‘Warp-gates’. These warp-gates allow travel from just a few light years away, to many hundreds of light years from our planet.” “We have evidence to back this theory up.” At that Qullum punched in a couple other commands into his device and the view screen began a playback of events that were recorded from the laboratory. “Here we are looking at where we believe these warp-gates are located. You can see the exact location if you look close enough by the swirling gases around them.” Qullum then hit a button and the screen zoomed in on the swirling section of gases on the screen. “Now in about 25 seconds you will see why we believe we can send a ship through one of these warp-gates.” Qullum waited for a few more seconds and onto the screen appeared a massive rock going through the nebula, slowly the rock disintegrated due to the high concentration of gas in the nebula. The whole crowd gasped and started talking amongst themselves. “This rock that you just witnessed entering into the nebula was roughly one-third the size of Kriekaal. So it is a lot bigger then it looks on screen. The reason the rock disappeared is because our nebula is based mostly of a gas that can eat through exposed rock. Our planet is safe due to the protective atmospheric layers. We also believe that if we send a regular alloyed ship into space that this same gas will eat through the hull and kill anyone aboard. This is why we at GorgaSpace have developed a special alloy that will not be vulnerable to this gas, which we have named Barodium. This alloy will allow us to reach one of these warp-gates.” Over the next hour Qullum went over some more critical points to convince the members of the Board to allow him a permit to build the first ever Hevordian Space Station and exploration vessels. He seemed to be winning the crowd over but he was not able to decide if he was getting across to the Board members or not. He then ended his presentation with some concluding thoughts. “So in conclusion members of the Board, the benefits of a space program far out weigh the cons of having it. We will solve the problem of over population by establishing colonies throughout the galaxy. We will become a mighty race; we will become a prominent force. We will for once have a purpose in life. I want to thank you all for coming here today to listen to what I had to say and I bid you all a farewell on your journey home. Thank you again.” Qullum then stepped away from the podium and bowed. The crowd proceeded to give Qullum a standing ovation that Last a solid 2 ½ minutes. The Chairman of the Board then stood up from his seat and approached the podium. “Thank you Mr. Gorgas for the timely presentation. We the members of the board will go over this information that you have provided in the coming days and we will contact you with what is decided. Everyone in attendance today is welcome to stay and enjoy a fine meal and to meet Qullum Gorgas personally and ask him some of your questions you may have. He can only stay for about an hour so we encourage any who wish to talk to him to form an orderly line in the back of the Complex. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.” Qullum walked from behind the screen over to the stand that he would be positioned at to speak to different ones. For the next hour he answered questions and just discussed every day matters with the public. After he had finished with all this he walked around outside and bumped into one of the Board members. “Fine job on that presentation Qullum. You are a mighty good public speaker. I think you just about convinced the whole crowd in the need of a space program. I personally would like to see it happen but I am but only one voice on the Board.” In response Qullum said, “Why thank you Mr.… “Mr. Rodale.” “Yes, thank you Mr. Rodale I appreciate the comments. I certainly hope I moved the other Board members to feel just as strongly about this as you do.” “In time we will find out Qullum, in time we will find out.” Replied Rodale. Qullum smiled and nodded and walked past Rodale and boarded his transport. He left with a confidence that he never thought he would have knowing that he had convinced at least one Board member in his favor. He now hoped that he convinced the other seven in the same manner. Qullum set in a course for GorgaSpace HQ to continue his studies and work on the technologies that they had. In just a few days or weeks he would find out if his families dreams were going to be carried out. He could only hope from here on out. It was no longer in his hands. The saga continues... [ November 12, 2002, 00:00: Message edited by: Ragnarok ] |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Ragnarok,
Applause, applause, applause. That was definitely amazing!! And I will standing by, waiting for the next installment!! mlmbd http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Thank for the comments mlmbd. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Great stuff!
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
You're laying out some great threads to be picked up later. Do you jave them planned out at all or ais it going to be largely made up as stuff happens in-game or what?
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Quote:
Sachmo: Thanks I'm also glad you enjoyed it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
rags, hope those paragraphs are going together well. I am wondering how that vote is going to go.
mlmbd http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Quote:
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
No by all means don't give away the story. I can wait. Even if it is VERY impatiently.
mlmbd http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif After I responded to your Last post I decided to write some this afternoon. (You put me in the mood to do it. I guess that was one of my problems, just wasn't in the mood needed to write) and as of 5PM today this chapter was almost as long as the Last chapter. Only like 5000 letters to go till I reach that same size. It's looking to be longer then the Last one by quite a bit. I'll probably write for about an hour now. If I finish it in that hour I'll post it here. If not I'll finish tomorrow evening and post then. Until then, Rags signing off...
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
rags, glad your mood has changed for the better. I was going to say; Glad you're "In The Mood". But I thought someone would misinterpret it. If you know what I mean? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
mlmbd http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif Yes I know what ya mean. I was thinking the same thing when I stated it like that.
But as I said in the Lurk thread the story should be up today. |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Chapter 3
The launching 2400.0.03 It had been one week since Qullum Gorgas Jr. gave his presentation at the Complex. Qullum was growing impatient with the members of the Board because he still had heard nothing as to their decision. He was hoping to begin construction on the very first Orbital Space Station in a couple weeks but from the looks of things he would just have to wait. Qullum continued doing his work as usual on a day-to-day basis researching new technologies. They had discovered a few new items, and improved some already existing technologies – mostly in the weapons Category – that he was anxious to test out in action. One day Qullum had finished up a hard days work at the laboratory and was walking home when he bumped into a rather large Hevordian. He stopped, nodded and politely said, “excuse me” as he continued on his journey home. The man he ran into stood there for a few moments thinking then finally after realizing whom he just ran into he took off after him. He caught up with Qullum and after catching his breath he said, “Hey! Long time no see buddy!” Qullum’s eyes turned into a yellowish color indicating confusion, he stared blankly at the man for a moment then replied, “I’m sorry, do I know you?” The man laughed at the comment then said, “Yes you know me Jr. Well you should anyways. I worked with your mother and father back in the day.” Again Qullum looked confused as he was trying to figure out who this man could possibly be. “That does not tell me much,” Said Qullum, “My parents worked with many Hevordians. You will have to be more specific then that.” The man just smiled and said, “Of course. The name is Jotag, Cadet Jotag.” Qullum finally realized who it was. He half smiled and began to speak, “Ohhhh, man that’s right. You helped my mother doing her studies when they first found the warp-gates. How could I have forgotten?” he questioned rhetorically. “Well, you were only what 8 or 9 when you Last saw me? After that you headed off to the Academy. So I don’t expect you to remember too awful much about those days.” Replied Jotag. Both men kind of chuckled for a moment. “That is very true, Jotag. So what are you up to these days? Still working for the research institute?” Jotag’s smile dissipated as he looked down to the ground. “No, after your mother and father died I just couldn’t keep going in that line of work. I went off and found a maintenance job over in Ku’lah at the mining factory, but I soon found myself longing for what your parents wanted. I was going to continue their work on my own, but I just didn’t have the resources, the power, or the time to pursue it. So I just let it slide and I kept my job at the factory. But look at the bright side. I’m up for a promotion next month.” Qullum laughed and then started to rub his chin in thought. “Well, I am sorry you could not carry on their dream. You know, I think I could find a job for you at GorgaSpace if you wanted. We are always looking for a good qualified researcher, and with your background history in the field, I am sure you would not have a problem getting hired there. Plus you have some high connections from what I hear.” Jotag smiled at the remark and replied, “I thank you for the offer, and I think I’ll take you up on that. But let me go home and talk to my wife about it and clear it with her first. After that I will be in touch with you to let you know on what we’ve decided.” “Alright, sounds good,” said Qullum, “Just let me know anytime what you guys have decided.” “Ok, I will do that. Oh, another thing. The whole reason I was even in this neck of the woods was that I was heading over to GorgaSpace to talk to you in person. I just wanted to let you know that I was at the Complex when you gave your presentation, and I really enjoyed it. You picked up a lot of the traits your father had, he too, was a great speaker when it came to his work. I’m really proud of you Qullum. You are doing what I dreamed of doing when your parents passed away.” Qullum was beginning to think back to when his parents were alive and it was starting to get to him. His skin went from a normally purplish green color to a more bluish color. “Thank you Jotag. That means a lot.” Noticing that Qullum was getting upset on the current subject Jotag made a final comment on that particular subject, “I’m sure your parents are watching you from Du’moh with a smile of approval on their faces.” Jotag then moved onto a different subject, “Hey, have you heard from the Board members yet? Any word as to if they are going to grant you that permit?” Upon hearing this Qullum perked up a little bit and said to Jotag, “No, nothing as of yet. It’s starting to tick me off. I was hoping to start construction in a couple weeks. But if I don’t find out soon then those plans could be delayed a few weeks if not months. Everything is basically in order; if we do get the permit, then once we begin construction we should have the Station done in about 3 months.” “Ahh, sorry for the misfortune of not hearing anything. But I’m confident that you will find out relatively soon, if not then if I were you I’d go talk to them. Make sure they haven’t forgot about you just yet.” Qullum chuckled at the mental thought of seeing himself walking into the Chamber – the central office that the Board members meet in – and reminding them of him and his permit. He knew this probably would not be a good idea seeing as he was pushing his luck getting the permit as it was. “I had better not Jotag, I think that would hamper my chances slightly more then they are right now.” The two men laughed as they could just imagine how the members of the Board would react to Qullum barging in there. The two of them stood there for a few more minutes talking on different subjects before finally they parted ways. Jotag was to go home discuss with his wife his new job opportunity and Qullum was going to go up and catch up on some sleep. The next Day… 2400.0.04 The day began as usual for Qullum. He arrived at his office early in the morning. As he walked in he asked his personal assistant if he had any communications that may have come through before he showed up. Knowing precisely what he meant, his assistant responded in a professional tone, “No, you have not received any communiqué from the Board members this morning, nor have you received any from anyone else. Not very many people awaken this early in the morning.” “Are you trying to say something to me Shi’kla?” Qullum asked. Shi’kla gave a friendly nod, “Of course not Qullum. I would never do such a thing.” Qullum smiled back in return, “That is precisely what I thought.” Qullum and the employees at GorgaSpace were not the only ones to awaken so early in the day. For at that very moment the members of the Board were one by one arriving at the Chamber to discuss the day’s activities. As the final member arrived he took his appropriate position at the end of the Chamber table. Then the Chairman of the Board began the day with the usual statement, only worded differently. “Good morning to you all. We have quite a few different events to discuss today. So let us get started shall we?” At that the rest of the board members in unison responded with a nod of agreement. The first couple hours they covered multiple areas of requests for all sorts of different events. One of which was the proposal for a permit to have an annual event in the name of Qullum Sr. on the date he discovered his telepathic capabilities. Loyal activists were the ones who requested such a permit that was promptly turned down by the Board members. Which was not such a bad idea as they realized that if they allowed such a event to take place that there would no doubt be uprisings and demonstrations which would lead to riots. At around midday, they finally reached a very important matter that would no doubt effect the Hevordian society no matter which way they ruled. That no doubt being the issue of whether or not to grant a permit to Qullum Gorgas and GorgaSpace, Inc. allowing them to launch an Orbital Station about Kriekaal. “Would everyone please pull out the summery of the presentation that Mr. Gorgas gave at the Complex that I prepared for us?” Began the Chairman. The other seven members then pulled out their copies of the demonstration Qullum had given one week earlier. As they flipped through the material on the H-Padd the Chairman continued to speak. “As we all know Qullum Gorgas has petitioned us to approve his entry for a permit. This will work just as all other voting sessions work Qullum will have to win five out of the eight members on the board in order to be granted the permit. If he does not receive five votes the permit will be declined and he will have to wait three years before he can submit another application. If it ends up in a four to four tie then we will put the matter aside for two weeks before we discuss the matter again. In which we must make a vote. If it once again ends up in a vote it goes to the High Judger to make the final decision. I am sure everyone understands so lets begin.” The Chairman had done this many times before but it was by stipulation that he repeats the procedure to the rest of the Board members. He continued on, “I will now open this up to the rest of you to discuss and express your opinions on the matter. “I will start off. Mr. Gorgas gave a really powerful presentation to us Last week and it no doubt moved many in attendance to start believe just as he does. But I feel that by granting him a permit, that we will ruin what we have established as a society here on Kriekaal. If we were to grant this permit and this Orbital Station was launched and exploratory ships were sent off in search of other planets, which in all likelihood just plainly will not happen, and they do not find nothing, then we will have a real issue on our hands.” The chairman obviously was not in favor of granting the permit. He reached a conclusion in his mind long before this was to be discussed, “So it is my vote that we do not allow such a permit as it will wreck this society.” He marked down on the H-Padd his vote and he said, “Talishka, your thoughts on the matter please.” Talishka was seated to the right of the Chairman, indicating that she was next in line to be Chairman, or Chairwoman in her case. She was the only female on the Board and she was the first female to ever be on the Committee. She was taller then the average Hevordian female by at least a few centimeters. Her complexion was unusually pale, meaning she was a really light purple/green mix compared to usual dark purple/green mix that most Hevordian females, and males for that matter had. But with those matters aside, she began her review of the situation. “I do have to agree with you Chairman on the matter. If we did allow this and he did not find anything out there; the society would indeed be ruined to an extent. But we would be able to repair the damage when and if this happened. However, I feel that if we do not allow his permit we will be in the same situation then if we did grant it. We would have a real problem with the people. He convinced many Hevordians in his favor Last week and we cannot deny that.” Talishka was very proficient in her speaking. She chose her words wisely and always was clear and informative when she would speak to other members of the Board or if she was just speaking to average Hevordians. She continued on with what she was saying, “Seeing that we would be in the same situation if not worse if we did not allow this permit, I feel that it is a risk that we can and should take. We owe it to the people to grant this permit.” Stated Talishka, “So it is my vote that we grant Qullum Gorgas this permit for a Space Program.” Everyone nodded in acceptance of her standing on the matter. The Chairman then stated as he punched in Talishka’s vote into the H-Padd, “Very well, your vote has been recorded. The current count is 1 in favor of a permit and one in disfavor of it. Civ’I,” continued the Chairman, “You’re next.” Civ’I pronounced “Seev’I” was the youngest member of the board. In fact he was the youngest member ever to be in a position of authority over the Hevordian people. He was put in power when he was merely 28 earth years old, which would be 32 Hevordian years. He was very advanced in his knowledge of technology and advances of the Society, which is the reason he was put into power so early in his life. The reason he is so much more advanced then the average Hevordian citizen is because he was borne with an over abundance of Soupa cells in his brain. Soupa cells being the main cell that controlled main functions and memories in the brain of Hevordian people. As far as it was known this was the first ever case reported. Civ’I used this abundance of Soupa cells to his advantage. He realized at an early age that he was able to learn and remember things in a much more advanced pace then most Hevordian adults. So he read many documents concerning the history of Kriekaal and the Hevordian people. “First of all there is not much more to say about the issue besides placing my vote. You, the Chairman, and you, Talishka have covered most of the finer points that were to be discussed. However, you did not really touch on the pros and cons of having a space program. Granted, you did mention the cons, but only the cons. Therefore, I will touch on a few of the pros of having the aforementioned program.” The way Civ’I spoke was simply amazing. He was very advanced in his speech and it showed. His choice of words and the way he got those words across was just outstanding. He continued on with his vote, “Some” emphasizing that one word, “of the pros to having a Orbital station are: </font>
“So to put it simply, I feel that the benefits outweigh, by far, the disadvantages of having the program. So it is my vote that we grant Mr. Gorgas a permit to launch a Orbital Station.” “Thank you Civ’I for your comments. Your vote has been recorded and after having three votes, two are in favor of granting the permit and one against.” After the Chairman reviewed the count, four other members of the Board discussed their views and opinions on the issue and placed their votes. After these four members finished their votes the Chairman once again summed up the count. “Ok, here is where we stand after seven votes. We have three votes against granting the permit, three votes in favor of allowing the permit, and one vote undecided. So the situation is that if Mr. Rodale also votes indecisive we will put the issue on hold until Mr. Gorgas can resubmit his application after a period of two weeks. If, however, Mr. Rodale votes against the permit, the permit will be turned down and Mr. Gorgas cannot submit another application for three years. But if Rodale votes in favor or the permit, then we will grant the permit to GorgaSpace, Inc. and that will be the end of it. You’re up Mr. Rodale.” Said the Chairman in a even tone. “Very well sir,” replied Rodale. Rodale… Rodale was a very unusual name for a Hevordian. The more appropriate term would be, “Unique” really. Yes, Rodale was a very unique Hevordian name. No one knows why his parents had given him such a unique name. Many people had asked him that very question but he would simply change the subject to something else. It was at that moment ones would know not to push any further as Rodale had a very short temper. “Well, now that basically every point has been touched on I don’t have too much else I could talk about. Every point brought out here today has been very valid and certainly these points warrant consideration. However, I feel just as Civ’I and Talishka do, I feel that the benefits far outweigh the possibility of having riots. So it is my vote that we grant Mr. Gorgas, and GorgaSpace, Inc. the permit allowing them to start a space program to launch a Orbital station.” You could see the look of disappointment on the Chairman’s face. He did not want to see this time come about but his efforts to deny the permit had failed. He had been out voted and the permit would indeed be granted. The Chairman then nodded his head and said, “Alright, that is four votes in favor, three votes against, and one vote undecided. The Board has decided and with a four/three/one victory, the permit for a space program is hereby accepted on this date. Ok, Rodale, I am putting you in charge of contacting GorgaSpace with the news. I expect you to do so before the day is through. Now, lets move on to the other matters at hand.” Rodale just simply nodded his head in acknowledgement of the decision that was made; he could not help but have a small grin come to his face. Then they went on discussing other matters. After a long days work Rodale finally reached his office where he had one final task on the day to complete. And that was to contact Qullum Gorgas to inform him of the decision. He sat down at his desk and shuffled through a few items then said, “Computer, open a communiqué to Qullum Gorgas’ office place.” He heard an affirmative bleep as the computer did just as it was commanded. In just a few brief seconds Qullum appeared on the hologrid. “Qullum Gorgas here.” Stated Qullum in an official tone that he used when he was speaking to different ones that called him. Rodale then replied, “Uh, yes, Qullum this is Rodale from the Board Committee. I am contacting you to inform you of the decision that was made today regarding the permit.” “Oh, of course, I have been waiting in eager anticipation for a communiqué about the decision.” Said Qullum in a tone that much resembled one that was trying to, ‘suck up’. Even though sucking up would not do him much good if the vote was against the approval of the permit, as the decision was already made final. “I’m sure you have been.” began Rodale with a slight smile on his face, “The decision with a four/three/one final count is you have been granted the permit and hereby allowed to start a space program. Congratulations Mr. Gorgas this indeed will be a grand day in the history of the Hevordian people.” Despite his best efforts, Qullum could not help but allow a huge smile to come across his face as he heard the news. Never in his life had he been so happy as he was right now. He was about to scream in joy but he knew he should not with a Board member watching him. So he kept a professional posture and said, “Thank you Mr. Rodale, I agree, this is the beginning of a new era for the Hevordian people and I am glad I can be a part of it.” Rodale smiled and then replied, “You are very welcome Qullum, you deserved this permit and I am happy to see you receive it. And please, call me Rodale, you don’t have to include the formalities.” “Ok M…Rodale,” said Qullum with a smile in reply. “I will put this permit to its fullest use and hopefully back up my findings with it.” “I’m sure you will Qullum, now if you will excuse me I have some other matters to attend to.” Came the reply from Rodale. “Of course, thanks again, Qullum out.” At that Qullum and Rodale at the same time pressed the button on their respective hologrid’s and terminated the comm. Link. After which Qullum finally was able to shout his joyful praise and he had finally received what he had tried so hard to attain the past two months, no, what he had tried to attain his whole life. Meanwhile back in Rodale’s office he commanded the computer to open another comm. Link. “Computer,” he began, “open a subspace communiqué on this subspace frequency.” Rodale then punched in the frequency of 182-294.43. “Priority red,” continued Rodale, “initiate protection lock Delta Alpha 3 niner using Dalero Procedure 6.” As soon as he finished his command the computer repeated back to him in an ever so eerie voice, “Initiating protection lock Delta Alpha 3, Procedure Dalero 6……….Lock initiated. Frequency now secured.” After the link was secured he waited for a few moments, nothing was happening. Moments of silence passed by. But then the hologrid lit up. Standing before Rodale, or rather the holo projectors made it so it looked as if it was standing before him was a tall, dark, sleek man with nothing but darkness and shadows behind him. Hardly anything could be made out of the man except for his face as the darkness covered everything else. He had unusual markings across his face, and eerily bright white eyes. But that is all that could be made of his face. “I thought I told you not to communicate with me unless it was an emergency Rodale.” Began the man with a booming voice. Rodale responded by saying, “Yes, you did tell me that. But we are on a secure channel that no one can trace. I made sure of it. But it only works for a brief moment of time.” The man looked a little agitated at Rodale for some reason or another. “Is that all you contacted me for? Is to tell me that you can create a secure channel for a brief time?” “Uhh, no, uhh,” said Rodale, obviously very tense when he spoke to the man. “I, uhh, well Qullum Gorgas was granted the permit today. He is officially going to be starting a space program in the coming weeks. I just thought you would like to know.” In response the man said, “Very well indeed, I see that the Ancient Texts so far are accurate in foretelling who would be the chosen one to rule the galaxy.” “It appears so sir. Is there anything else you would like to know?” replied Rodale. The man shook his head as he began to speak, “No, not at this moment. I will be in touch if there is anything else. Inform me if anything of particular interest happens in the meantime.” “Very well,” replied Rodale, “Rodale out.” He then cut off the comm. Link and slid back into his seat and took a big sigh of relief. He could not stand talking to the man very long. For some reason he got very tense whenever he did try to talk to him. Rodale never could figure this out, but then again, he hadn’t thought too awful much about it. In the mean time back to wherever it is that this man comes from he stepped back into his dark shadows and then commanded of someone standing in the far corner of the room, “You, come over here.” The man in the corner stepped out from the darkness and said in reply, “Yess masster?” “Prepare the ship for departure.” Came the booming voice of the man. “It seems our time is drawing to an end.” “Very well ssir, I will have the sship ready in a few hourss.” Came the reply of the much smaller man. Back on Kriekaal. 2400.0.6 It had been two days since Qullum had received a communiqué regarding the Boards final vote. He was finally getting over the initial shock of the decision that ruled in his favor. The previous day he had given all his employees the day off to allow time to celebrate what had just been accomplished. He had handed out numerous H-Padds detailed the work that he wanted completed over the new few days. 2400.0.9 While he was hard at work at trying to get things ready for the construction process he still was trying to discover some new technologies that could be used. The previous week he had designed a vessel that would hold no life at all. He had named this vessel a ‘Satellite’. It was small in size, roughly 80kt, which is smaller then one fifth the size of the Orbital Station that they would be building. This Satellite would be used for many different purposes, defense, recon, perhaps even mining asteroids if they found any. 2400.0.13 After he had discovered this Satellite he got to thinking. Thinking about the future is what it really came down to. For now they could launch Satellites from the planet surface. But then he thought that if they could be used to mine asteroids then he highly doubted that they could launch that far from the planet. So he began working on a device that could be installed onto a ship that would be able to launch these into outer space. Since he had named the Satellites, well a Satellite, then he found it only fitting that he would call this new device a ‘Satellite Bay’. He had finally came up with a design of this Bay that would be able to launch four Satellites per month. Due to its small size and high-energy intake it was not able to launch very many. He had hoped that in the future maybe they could revise the design and create an even bigger one that could launch more Satellites. 2400.0.16 Over the next few days Qullum had come up with some new designs of ships and some new devices. In the ship Category he had designed a transport vessel that they could outfit with a minimum crew compliment and the rest would be filled with cargo bays. This would come in handy should they need to transport goods to and from different bases and planets. Also in ship designing field he had designed a vessel that he had deemed a Colony Ship. This ship would be outfitted with the crew compliment then the rest of the hull would be empty space, in which he would install a component that would support the life of nearly four million Hevordians. It was a marvelous device, as it would allow them to transport many Hevordians to other planets and create colonies throughout the galaxy. 2400.0.18 Back at GorgaSpace, Inc. preparations were already far along getting ready for the beginning of construction of the new Orbital Station. Qullum was doing his best to get things organized so that they could begin the construction by the 20th of 40 of the month. Everything was going smoothly and they were right on schedule with where they wanted to be at this point in time. Qullum was running around performing task after task when a man approached him. It was Cadet Jotag. “Jotag!” said Qullum as he noticed him approaching. “How are things going?” “Everything is going pretty good. I heard the news on the hologrid Last week. Congratulations!” stated Jotag. He examined the room as workers were frantically going about their business trying to meet the deadline in time. Then he began to speak once more, “I see everything is pretty hectic around here right now.” “Thanks,” replied Qullum. “Yes, it is indeed very hectic. We are hoping to meet a deadline in two days from now to start the construction, and there is a lot of work to be done in the meantime.” Jotag nodded in agreement. “I’m sure there is Qullum.” He stood there for a minute then said, “Hey, I won’t take much of your time, I just wanted to come over here to talk to you about that position you offered me.” “Sure, what is it?” replied Qullum. “Well I just wanted to let you know I talked to my wife about it and she is in agreement of it. She knows that it means a lot to me and so she is ok with it. So if it is still all right with you I’d like to start whenever you need me. It will take a few days for me to get back into the swing of things since it has been so long. But I am sure I can pick up on the new technologies and tricks of the trade very quickly.” Said Jotag. Qullum stood there thinking for a brief moment as if he was wondering if it was still ok. “Sure thing Jotag. I even think I have a place for you right now. You can start whenever you are available.” “I’m available right now Qullum.” Stated Jotag. “Very well then.” Started Qullum. “You can start by familiarizing yourself with all the new instruments and so forth over there with one of my senior staff members, Sor’kla.” Jotag nodded in agreement and he walked off heading over to meet with Sor’kla. So for the next two days everyone was busy at work. Organizing work schedules, materials, equipment, and so forth. On the 20th of 40 of the month, Qullum made an announcement to all employees working at GorgaSpace. “Everyone, can I have your attention please?” began Qullum. As everyone stopped in his or her tracks Qullum continued, “I would like to take this time to thank you all for your hard work. It has been a rough ride thus far and it is only to become rougher as time goes by. But I know that each and every one of you will put forth your best efforts to get this project done in an efficient manner. This is the beginning of a new era for the Hevordian people and we are all very privileged to be the ones leading the way into that era. That is all.” Before everyone resumed whatever task they had been working on they all started to applause Qullum for his efforts. The understood what this meant to him, and it meant just as much to them as they had been working towards this for so long. 2400.1.03 Over the period of the next month they had worked diligently on the Orbital Station. After the one-month mark of beginning the project they had finished the outer hull of the Station and were beginning work on outfitting the inside, and inserting computer consoles. 2400.2.12 It had now been two months since the construction had begun and all components of the Station had been added. They were working on the detailing of the interior now. Their estimate was that it would be completed in the next week or so. 2400.2.23 It had taken eleven days, four days longer then they had hoped for, but they had finally finished the detail work of the Station. The Station was finally complete and ready for launch. They were going to run a few more tests on the computer systems but if all went well they would launch in two days. In the meantime Jotag, who was moving up rapidly in the research department, discovered how to use the gases from outer space to his advantage. He developed a device that would harness these gases and turn them into supplies for ships while traveling. He figured that once they get out of the nebula and into a star system, assuming there was an end to the nebula, that he could easily modify this device to harness the power of the stars. But that was for future times. For the next couple days, preparations were once again being made. But this time it was not for the construction of the Station, but it was for the launching of the Station. From the beginning of construction to the ending of it, it had been a period of two months and three days. Beating their deadline, by a huge margin, by thirty-seven days, which was almost a full month on the Hevordian Calendar. It took a massive complex to be able to hold the Station, and it would take an even larger one to launch the thing. The Station was 500kt in size, absolutely huge, it would hold a maximum of up to 300 Hevordians, but they would not stretch the limits, therefore they were only sending up 175 Hevordian people to maintain and work on the station. Work on the launch site was nearing completion as the launch date drew ever so close. 2400.2.25 The day had finally arrived; they would be launching the Station today. The weather was just perfect for launching the Station. They were down to 3 hours before the launching would take place and Qullum was scheduled to make a short speech before this memorable time. This was a huge event, billions of people would be watching from all over Kriekaal as the space program was officially underway. As everyone tuned into the hologrid to watch this event, the news had made a special program to mark this time in history. “Good evening Kriekaal and thank you for tuning in, I am Zor’ka Mi’cle. The headline today is of course the launching of the first ever Orbital Station in our history. We have made a special presentation for all of you out there watching us tonight. Listen in as we go through the years of Qullum Gorgas and see what kind of story his life has been.” The hologrid faded and showed how Qullum Gorgas had made it this far. It showed his trials of being a kid to parents who shared this very dream. It also showed how he had tried so hard to get the permit to do what he was about to do today. As the program ended the hologrid focused back in to Zor’ka Mi’cle and she began to speak once more, “Wow, what a powerful story. Qullum Gorgas as obviously has been through a lot throughout his lifetime.” A few brief moments had passed and she then said, “It’s been reported that Qullum is now stepping up to the podium to address the crowd. Lets listen in as he does this…” Qullum Gorgas stepped up to the podium and as he looked around he thought of the Last time he was in front of a huge crowd like this. It was when he made his presentation to the Board members in efforts to receive the permit to start a space program. It brought a sense of joy and satisfaction as he looked around, he knew an even larger group was watching him across the hologrid, and he knew that his and his parents dream was finally being fulfilled. Qullum took a deep breath and said, “I thank you all for coming out today to witness this spectacular event about to take place. In approximately one hour we will begin the launching sequence and a new chapter in Hevordian history will be wrote, the first of many.” Qullum paused for a brief moment as the crowd had broken out in applause. Smiling, he continued, “My parents had worked so hard to attain what I am about to, but they never did as no one would listen to them. But I feel if it was for my parents then I would not be up here today, and we would not be entering into a new era.” Qullum was obviously overjoyed at the fact that this was finally happening. Tears were about to come to his eyes as he continued to speak; “This Orbital Station is the first of hopefully many more to come. Here are a few details of this Station: </font>
</font>
The crowd then once again applauded Qullum. This time it was a standing ovation that Lasted a solid three minutes. “Thank you,” Qullum said as he bowed, “The launching will take place in about 30 minutes. I thank you all again for coming out here today, but I especially want to think my employees at GorgaSpace, without them I do not think we could have gotten this far in the project.” At the Qullum stepped away from the podium as the crowd continued to applaud. Meanwhile up at control booth Qullum and his staff ran through the final checklists. Making everything was in order and ready to go. Everything appeared to be in order so they began the countdown. “Twenty seconds till launch.” Barked Sor’kla. “I repeat, twenty seconds till launch.” At hearing this announcement the people down on the pad moved off and way and onto the transport as they would have to be at least 4 kilometers away to be out of harms way. The heat and fumes from the launch boosters would kill anyone any closer then 2 ½ kilometers. Qullum was getting excited now. He could not wait to see his creation on its way up. He heard the count reach 10. Sor’kla continued to bark out commands, “Nine seconds till launch. Lets move people!” “Eight…” people were rushing around the control booth completing their tasks that needed done before launch. “Seven…” “Six…” The booster engines had ignited. They needed at least five seconds to run to generate enough heat and power to be able to lift the Station from the ground. “Five…” “Four…” “Three…” “Two…” Qullum couldn’t help but have a huge grin come across his face. He was a mere two seconds way from his dream taking off… literally. “One second till launch…” “We have lift off!” said Sor’kla. At that the engines began their pull of the station. Slowly but surely the Station was lifting off the ground. As it reached higher into the afternoon sky the faster it went. It reached a max velocity of nearly 20,000 miles per hour. Once it reached its orbit the booster engines would detach them selves and fall back to the planet. Then the stabilizing thrusters would initiate on the Station and it would hold its orbit above Kriekaal. A few minutes went by as everyone watched the Station until they would no longer see it. “The Space Station Ambition is now in orbit around the planet sir.” Reported one of Qullum’s employees. “Very well,” replied Qullum. “Very well.” The crowd down below the control booth was going nuts. They were cheering and doing all sorts of different things in celebration of this great moment in time. Qullum Gorgas meanwhile up in the control booth was just standing there looking to the sky. It had finally come true, his dream, it had finally come true. He simply could not believe it. There was a time in his life he never thought he would see this day come. But here it was, that day was right before him. As he finished looking up to the sky he whispered to himself, “Thank you mom and dad. Thank you.” He then backed away from the observation window and walked away with a huge smile upon his face. This was the beginning of a new era for his people. The history books had not just been completed; but rather, they had just started. The saga Continues... [ November 22, 2002, 05:27: Message edited by: Ragnarok ] |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Is there a chunk of text missing? It seems like there's a time gap and change of speakers between the second and third item on the bulleted list.
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Quote:
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Rags, koodoos, congratulations, bravo, cheers and some I missed. Great story! More than worth waiting for.
I do see where capnq is talking about. The time where you leave off, and pickup two weeks later. I by the way didn't mind. Again, WELL DONE! WELL DONE, INDEED! mlmbd http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Ohhh, ok this part?
Quote:
Since you guys feel that there is a chunk missing I shall write some stuff in real quick. I'll post it when I have it done. Oh! And thanks for the feedback mlmbd. Glad you enjoyed it! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif Edit: Ok, I added some more to it. It's nothing major but it sort of fills that time space. I put in italics what I added. Hope that's better! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif [ November 22, 2002, 05:28: Message edited by: Ragnarok ] |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
rags, yep that's it. The addition might be fluff, but it is a very smooth bridge. Excellent, if I do say so myself. And I do!!
mlmbd http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
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The first time I read Chapter 3, there was only one bulleted list. None of the text from Quote:
Quote:
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Ok, I must have messed up when I copied and pasted it the first time and it just slipped by me. Sorry about that. Shouldn't happen again.
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
rags, let's make sure you don't! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
mlmbd http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Bada Bump!
Well... guess what?! If all goes well I will have the next story posted by tomorrow sometime. If it goes even better I will have it done by tonight. But write now I am writing like crazy and it is proving to be a long chapter and a good one at that. (At least by my standards http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif ) |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Ok, things didn't go like I had hoped. I'll be working on the story for the next half hour or so. If it is finished I will post, if not it will have to wait till tomorrow. Sorry to all those that are waiting on this one. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Note: Sorry for the delay. This is a huge (7 pages or so) chapter because I just could not stop writing. It could be alot bigger but I'm splitting it up in two parts. Enjoy this chapter. I am going to take a couple days off from writing now as my brain is cooked. Feedback is always welcome.
-------------------------------------------- Chapter 4 Explorations of the Great Unknown – Part 1 2400.2.37 The space station Ambition had been in outer space for over a week now and all operations were going smoothly. Qullum Gorgas and his team of researchers and field experts spent that week establishing a constant communiqué channel that would remain open at all times. Allowing data to be sent and received in just a matter of seconds compared to the hours it took when the station was first launched and orbit was established around the planet. The activity on the Ambition was unbelievably high. The station was designed and built for a maximum crew of only 175 Hevordian peoples, but the current count of workers was well above 250. Having so many people on board created a very hectic and stressful working environment as it meant that people were crowded together at different stations and so forth. The employees that would be permanently station on board the Ambition could not wait for all the testing and diagnostics and simulations were complete so that the extra crewmembers could return to the planet surface. One of these persons was Tib’klor Shoosh, commanding officer of the space station Ambition. Captain Shoosh was a proud man; but he was not proud of his Last name. It reminded him of an old romance novel from the 3rd century of his planet. Very sappy, mushy, indeed, not fitting for the commanding office and the captain of the first ever space station. Thus he went by his first name, Tib’klor. Now this name, this name sounds like a warrior. Indeed, it fit him very well as he was the best warrior of the Hevordag people at one point in his life. But now…now he was a peaceful man. He had come to his senses and joined the Hevordian movement. In doing so it helped the Hevordians win their civil war against the Hevordag over one century ago. He was just now in the prime of his life and he loved every minute of it. Yes, even though he had become Hevordian, he was still Hevordag by heart and still the warrior he was trained to be. Being such a warrior he was tempted many times to kill those pesky crew members that were getting things in final working order on the station. He was constantly running into crewmen as he went about his business. He was working on a relay when he stood up and turned around and began to walk when he bumped into an officer once again. He was not in the best of moods and you could see it in his facial expressions and you could hear it in his voice. “Watch where you are going officer!” he said has he continued to stare and punch in commands to his H-Padd. He then began to have this feeling in his gut that indicated that he should look up. Once he did he realized whom he had ran into. It was his second in command, XO Too’pla. “Too’pla, I’m sorry,” said the Captain as he began to apologize for the way he said what he did. “It is ok, Sir. It is understandable. We have all been under a lot of stress this past week.” Replied the XO. “Indeed we have XO. It’s just with all these crewmen running around here and bumping into me constantly it is getting rather frustrating. Sometimes I wish I were still Hevordag so I could rip their heads off and play Dread Ball with them. That would be some fun times.” Said the Captain with a sly grin on his face. As if the Captain formerly being Hevordag wasn’t bad enough he had to go and say such a thing? Too’pla was getting rather nervous around his commanding officer as this present time. Too’pla then took a big gulp and stated, “Well, that is uhh, well, umm, that is nice to hear, Sir. I’ll be going now.” The Captain could tell that his XO was unsettled by what he had said so he reassured him. “Ahh, do not be worried about what I said officer. It is just the pure Hevordag blood speaking. I would never do such a thing to a fellow officer, let alone my very own XO. At least not unless he gave me reason to.” The Captain grinned in a way that unsettled his first officer even more so then the fact that his Captain used to play Dread Ball with his enemies heads. “Now, did you have something to tell me, or were you just goofing off when you bumped into me?” continued the Captain. “Well Captain, I came down to report to you that all these crewmen are going to be leaving the station tomorrow by 0900 hours. And we also received a communiqué with our orders that we are to begin working on immediately.” Said the XO in reply to his Captains inquiry. The Captain began to speak once more, “Then get on with it. What are our orders?” “We have been ordered to begin construction on a exploration vessel that will be used to study and find out if there are warp-gates out there or not. It is being equipped with our most advanced scanners and sensors and scientific technology that is available to our disposal, Sir. We have a deadline that must be met as well. We are supposed to have construction done on this vessel by the 7th month of this year. In other words, it is 5 months we have to build it. If we get started right away I believe we can get ahead of schedule and have it done in four months. But it all depends.” Stated Too’pla. “I see,” began Captain Tib’klor, “Very well. What will be going on down on the surface during this time then?” asked the Captain. “Well Sir, they are also going to be working on building some of these ships. They can get one of these ships done in a single month due to the resources available to them and also because they can have more then one construction unit working on it at one time. We are confined to having just one unit to work with.” Came the reply of the XO. The Captain pondered this for a moment and then said, “Ok, we will begin construction on the ship as soon as the construction unit is cleared to go, which should be in about 25 minutes according to the schedule.” The XO nodded his head and swiftly turned around and began his trek back to the bridge where he had left a lieutenant in charge. To be frank he didn’t trust anyone to be in charge of that station but himself and the Captain. Even then, he barely trusted the Captain to run things around there. He had never been one to get along with Hevordags after they had mercilessly killed his family during the war. He had wanted so bad to just kill one of them, anyone of them, it didn’t matter who it was just as long as he got to see their face while they were dying, so that he could see on their face the same look of horror that was left on his families faces when they were murdered. Back on Kriekaal work had already begun on the exploration vessel that would determine the fate of GorgaSpace, Inc. Yes; the future of this company was to be determined by this one vessel. If this ship were to find out that these swirling bits of gases were indeed warp-gates that could be traveled through and used to get out of this nebula in which their home rested, then it would be a glorious day for the Hevordian people. But if not, if these patches of gas that were spinning around were to be nothing more then a concentrated force of solar winds then GorgaSpace would lose its funding from the counsel and would be in ruins. The station would have to be dismantled piece by piece to Qullum’s shame. As excited as Qullum was that his dream was being lived to its fullest, he could not help but be a little bit depressed in knowing that in just a few more months he would find out if his dream would continue on, or if it would crash and burn like the Hevordag movement did during the final part of the civil war. Ever since he had received the permit from the Board Committee he had not had to work as much as he did when he was paying for everything himself through fundraisers and so forth; and so he was able to sit back and plan out the future of his company, whether it be for the good or for the bad. Qullum hated this fact but he had to have a backup plan just in case this all did not work out the way he was hoping. He knew he would have to have something to fall back on, he could not just expect his life to return to normal if everything he had dreamed of doing backfired on him. It was a plain and simple fact that if this all failed that he would not be able to continue on in this area of expertise, he would be ridiculed, put to shame, spat upon; all for the fact that he had given false hope to his people; for giving them a false sense of being. Yes, it was the same way back when they had individual Supreme Lords leading the people. If they had made false promises, false hopes, false teachings then those Supreme Lords would never be anything in their society again. They would be looked down upon and have to live their life in shame. Qullum wanted anything to not have to live his life in such a manner. His father could have easily lived such a life as hardly anyone accepted what he spoke of. But he did not, he was proud of that fact, he was proud that people looked down on him, for he knew that he was doing it for the right reasons, that he had proof of what he spoke of. But alas, that was of no consequence of his time, the people were not open to change in their ways. They were stuck in their way of life and nothing would change that. Even if they remotely believe that Qullum Sr. knew what he was talking about, even if they believe everything he said, they still would not accept it because of that fact that they did not want change to come in their lives. But over the years while Qullum Sr. continued on in his research and studies, he slowly started making people realize that change was good, that change would help their society in those dark times of war. And him being able to accomplish this helped his son in his journey to follow in his father’s footsteps. It helped him in his quest to continue his fathers dream. But enough of pondering the past, enough of worrying about the future of his company; this is neither the time nor the place to be discussing that Qullum thought. It was time to worry about the present, time to worry about getting this ship done on time and launched. Everything was going according to schedule and the ships hull was constructed in just a matter of ten days, or a week if you so wish to call it. After which work began on the interior of the estimated 150-kiloton mass of ship. Much work still had to be done, even though the hull was completed they still have to put the outer armor on, install computer systems, guidance systems, you name it. Two weeks later and the ship was nearing completion. They had finished installing the computer systems and now they were working ever so diligently on equipping it with the needed life support systems and quarters for the crew to stay in during the night. The ship would hold a crew compliment of roughly 60 officers. 20 of them would be working at any given time while the rest were either relaxing or working on side projects. In the case of an emergency 40 crewmembers could and would be ready to take action. It had been a full 36 days since they began construction on the ship and it was finally completed. They were now in the process of running computer diagnostics to insure the safety of the crew and the equipment on board. Qullum stood back a ways from the ship and just gazed upon it. It was a beautiful piece of technology if he had ever seen one. It was also a massive ship, much larger then he had imagined it, and he could not wait to see it flying. He decided to go check on how the diagnostics were proceeding. “How are things going Jotag?” Qullum inquired of the newly appointed officer working on the diagnostics. “I trust things are going smoothly and we are on schedule to launch in a couple days.” Qullum finished his statement. Jotag put down his H-Padd and stood up. “Oh hey Qullum. Well things are not going perfectly. The systems seem to be working fine when I run the diagnostic but for some reason we cannot get the system to run that good when we start it up.” “I see, will it hinder the launch date any?” asked Qullum. “I cannot say for sure, sir. All I know is I am working my *** off trying to get this thing up and running.” Replied Jotag “I know it means a lot to you, and quite frankly it is starting to mean a lot to me. I want to see this mission turn out to be a successful one.” Finished Jotag. “As do I Jotag,” began Qullum. “Keep up the good work and I want this system to be up and running by the end of the day. So that we can work out the final bugs.” “Yes sir!” said Jotag. Qullum continued making rounds of the ship checking up on the progress of production. From what all he had heard they would be pressed for time to get the ship launched on schedule. But he had faith in his employees and so he did not worry too much about the issue. But rather he went back to the plant and continued working on a bigger ship design. This new design would be roughly 25% bigger then the ship he was about to send out to space. He knew he would need the extra space for supplies, cargo, extra equipment, should this mission succeed. A couple days later the ship had finally finished production and was ready to be sent out to space. The systems ran perfectly on the ground engines ignited just the way they were supposed to and scanners were working on all frequencies. Qullum’s dream was taking one step further on this very day. It could be a step to remember, for it would either be a building block for the future, or it would be step back in time. For Qullum’s sake, everyone hoped it be for the former. The ground based ship yard launched the ship and it reached a slightly higher orbit of the planet then did the space station Ambition but it was exactly where they had hoped it would go. It was running by itself for the moment before the crew reached the ship. The crewmembers were not allowed to be in the ship at the time of launch due to the risk involved. Many things could go wrong and they did not want to take the chance of losing some valuable members of the team. On the day that the crew would be teleporting up to Ambition there was a huge crowd of people at the tele-station, family members, friends, and just the general public. They all came to see their loved ones become a part of history and to say their goodbyes for they knew it would be a few months before they returned home. Lead researcher Sor’kla Ma’glore was also present as he was instructing ones as to how things would be carried out. “First of all everyone, I would like to personally think you for volunteering to be part of this great mission.” Began Sor’kla. “It shows that you take a real interest in the future of our society. I will not take too much of your time here today I just want to quickly tell you how to proceed from here. First of all you will be teleported to the space station Ambition from there you will sign in and register with the station as members of the ship. The ship is currently being docked onto the station to allow easy access into it. Once boarded you will depart as soon as you go through the system check down list. From there on you know the mission. Any questions?” A member of the crew barked up from the back, “I have one question sir. Since we are going to be on this ship for a few months, do you not think that it would be wise to have a ship name or designation?” Sor’kla just smiled and nodded as if he knew that would come up. “Yes you are very right crewman. I keep forgetting to let it be known what the ship in question will be named. Due to this being our first ship to leave the planet and its mission to explore the nebula we - Qullum Gorgas and the rest of the senior staff including myself - have found it fitting to name the ship Expedition. ” Sor’kla let that sink in for a minute and then asked once more, “Any other…” Before he could finish his sentence the doors in the back of the room swooshed open revealing a tall man dressed in a outfit that denoted being part of the researching staff. Everyone turned to see who it was and when they saw him, they took a deep breath and gasped. It was Qullum Gorgas. If not for the fact that he was holding two relatively large bags of luggage no one would have paid much attention to him, at least not as much as he was receiving now. Among the crowd was Shi’kla, Qullum’s personal assistant. She approached Qullum and stated the question, “What are you doing here with that luggage in your hands? Tell me you are just dropping it off to one of the crewmembers.” Qullum just smiled and replied, “I am afraid I am not just ‘dropping it off.’ What do you think I am doing Shi’kla?” Shi’kla just shook her head, as she could not resist the comment she was about to make. “If I knew what you were doing I would not have asked now would I?” Qullum laughed at the remark, as he knew that Shi’kla would say exactly that. “I am going up to the station and from there I am going to board the ship. This is my project and I am going to see it through.” “I am afraid I cannot let you do that. You have meetings, studies, and a lot of other responsibilities here on the planet surface. You do not have the time to partake of this mission.” Said Shi’kla. “Oh yes I do have the time,” said Qullum in reply, “I have all the time I need. I spent all of Last night and this morning contacting everyone and letting them know I was going to be on the ship studying the anomaly myself.” “But sir!” came the reply of Shi’kla in a rather irritated tone. “No buts about it. This is my mission and I am going to see it through. If it fails I can at least say I found out for myself. If it succeeds then all the better.” A smirk came across Qullum’s face as he thought of his next comment. “You seem pretty determined to keep me here on the planet Shi’kla. Any particular reason for that?” Qullum continued to smile as he awaited the young women’s reply. “I…Uhh… well it’s just that…” came the reply of a rather embarrassed Shi’kla. “It’s just what exactly?” Qullum loved every second of this as he had suspected for a few months now that Shi’kla had something for him. This proved to be the best time to play it out a little bit and get to the bottom of things. Shi’kla just looked to the ground and replied. “It’s nothing really. It’s just that I am your personal assistant and I am supposed to look out for you that’s all.” “I do not remember that being in the job description Shi’kla. But whatever you say.” At that Qullum assured her of his safety and that he would return in a few months when the mission was over. After which he embraced her in a hug; and as he backed away he leaned down – as he was much taller then the young lady – and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. He smiled has he let go of her and he stepped on to the tele-pad. Shi’kla was just awestruck, as she never thought she would experience such a thing from Qullum. She had dreamed of it but never did she think it would happen. She bit her bottom lip and smiled as Qullum barked out to Ensign Scot’tie who was running the tele-pad. “Take us up Scot’tie!” said Qullum as him and the rest of the crew of the Expedition were dematerialized and teleported to the space station Ambition . Upon reaching the space station Qullum headed straight to the registration center and logged in. The log in system was put into action in order to avoid having false officers boarding the ship if they were not supposed to be there. It did this through advanced technology that scanned the back lobe of their brains and also checked DNA strands and compared it the files on record. It would be very difficult indeed to breach such a security system. Everyone had finally registered with the station database and they were ready to depart. The doors leading onto the ship Expedition shut and sealed themselves and everyone reached their quarters and took their stations. Two hours later they began to leave the dock. They ran through the systems check and everything was going perfectly. They expected it to be an eventless journey until they reached the coordinates in the nebula where they would begin their studies. Captain Sh’tor rose from his command chair and barked out the commands, “Ensign, takes us out of here. 1/8 speed, heading 192 mark 13.5-7.” “Aye, sir!” came the reply of the young ensign in control of the helm. “Setting heading to 192 mark 13.5-7. Course laid in sir.” “Very well ensign. Engage!” Then ensign inputted the commands and the docking thrusters ignited and slowly began pushing the ship out of dock. The crew of the Ambition looked on from the observation deck. It was a marvelous site as the ship soon was out of sight. Once it cleared the station it engaged its primary engines and in a split second it was long gone from the station and on its way to investigate further these swirling bits of gas. Back on board the ship everything was running just as smoothly as everyone had hoped. They were working on established a communication link back with Ambition , they had never been this far away before so they were having some difficulties keeping a constant channel open. They were only able to get a couple sentences in before the link would shut down due to the ship going further and further away. They finally figured out how to maintain it for a longer period of time by focusing the communiqué channel to one single point on the station. This along with working up an algorithm that adjusted itself to the distance from the ship to the station. They would not keep a constant channel open, as that would deplete their limited energy reserves rather quickly. Qullum was board out of his mind. As he was not a member of the actual crew that ran the ship he was just part of the research team that would take control of the situation once they had arrived at their destination. While Qullum waited for this time he just sat back and relaxed. Something that he was not used to over the past 3 years. Back then he was working every day for at least 27 hours of the 30-hour days. But he finally reached a point in his career where he did not have to do everything for himself. He was finally able to ask others to take care of something for him. He missed being in control of his destiny so to speak. But he enjoyed having more of a life, he had found he was much happier in the fact that he actually had some free time every now and then. But at this point in time he had wished he had something to do. He began working on a research project but his interest quickly faded on that issue. He just sat in his quarters staring out through the view port and took in the beauty of the nebula. Never before had a Hevordian ventured away from their home planet. But now that they had he was awe struck. He had always believed this nebula was huge, but now that he was actually traveling through it. It was just simply amazing to him. Two weeks later they were finally approaching their destination. Stations on the ship that were in active during the flight began to light up as the team of science officers took their positions and began running scans. Captain Sh’tor slowly arose from his chair and stepped closer to the main view screen. He put his hand on the rail before him and said to the helms officer. “Slow her down to one quarter speed ensign. Takes us in nice and slow. Close to within 5000 parsecs and then come to a complete stop.” “Aye Captain,” relied the helmsman. “Slowing to one quarter speed… one quarter speed reached sir. She is holding steady.” The Captain was awed at what he was witnessing. Before him on the view screen appeared a massive sector of the nebula just spinning like a top. He was amazed and a little frightened at the same time. “Sensors, what do you suppose it is?” inquired the Captain. “Well sir that is what we are here to find out. But according to Qullum Gorgas it is a warp-gate leading into another sector of space and out of this nebula. A sector filled with planets and asteroid belts; just like the ancient texts speak of that no one would believe” replied the officer manning the sensor station. “Fascinating. Helm, all stop. This is as close as we get. I do not want to take unnecessary risks after traveling so Far.” Stated the captain in his usual tone of leadership. “Stay at this position until I give further orders. Let the science team do their thing and do not interfere with their work.” After giving his bridge crew orders he opened a ship wide channel. “This is your Captain speaking. I want to inform everyone that the reason we have stopped is due to the fact that we have finally reached our point of destination. We are going to sit at these coordinates while the science crew studies the special anomalies. I trust that you will give them your full support. Sh’tor out.” That was Qullum’s cue to quit what he was doing and report to the science lab to work on figuring out what was out there. A couple hours later after studying these anomalies Qullum was working on a formula that could possibly answer that vary question. Little did he know that the question was about to answer itself. “Qullum, I am getting some strange readings from the anomalies over here. You might want to check them out.” Said the junior science member that was working along with Qullum. “What is it Mi’tha?” replied Qullum as he walked over to the young member of his science team. Mi’tha began his reply, “That is the thing, I do not know what it is. I have been examining it for a couple minutes now but I still cannot figure out what it is.” Qullum began to run possible ways to figure it out through his head. He came up with one possibility. “Put 90% of the scanners focus on this point,” he said as he inputted the coordinates. “That is where most of the signal is…” he did not get a chance to finish his statement as on the small screen he was observing from lit up extremely bright and when he looked again there was something coming towards them. Qullum’s skin turned to a pale blue, as he was almost frightened. His eyes went from their normal pure white glow to a yellow glow from the fear in his eyes. He tapped the consol he was at and paged the Captain. “Captain Sh’tor. Set a heading to these coordinates, I’m transferring them now. 194 mark 11.8-6. Do it now! Engage engines to full power or else you are going to lose this ship. No time for questions just do it!” The Captain began to worry as to what was out there; he had no time to activate the view screen, as he was too busy barking out the command to move the ship. “Well, you heard the man! Move the ship, hard to port to those very coordinates. Full speed, engage!” The helmsman’s fingers began to fly across his consol setting in the course. “Engaging full speed!” The ship began to move and the inertia dampeners could barely keep control of everything, as it was a hard turn to the port bow. A couple seconds later, the ship began to rock like a massive tsunami. Everyone was jolted to the ground from the motion. After the rocking stopped the Captain rose to his feet once more and said, “Status?” Reports starting flowing in from all stations of minor injuries, and a couple stations that were shorted from the rocking, but nothing major. “What the hell was that?!?” inquired the Captain wondering what had just happened to his ship. Before anyone could answer his question the lift doors opened up and Qullum stepped out. “That my friend was a asteroid, and part of history!” You could see the sheer excitement in Qullum’s face. Even though a few brief moments ago he was scared out of his mind. Rather angered the Captain retorted, “Well that so called ‘piece of history’ just about killed us all!” He continued to the back half of the bridge where the lift was located. “Do not worry about it Captain. The only way it would have destroyed this ship is if you did not do what I said and move the ship. As long as you reacted as soon as you did then we were going to be fine.” Qullum said with his smile still beaming from his face. “How can you be so overjoyed when a rock half the size of Kriekaal nearly killed us?” asked the Captain, still obviously angry at the situation. “I think we should take this to the conference room Captain.” Replied Qullum. The Captain nodded and signaled for his senior officers to report to the main conference room. After everyone had made it into the room and took their seats Qullum stood up and began to speak. “As you know that was a huge asteroid that nearly destroyed the ship. Many of you are wondering why I am happy about that.” After making this statement everyone just looked at the Captain and nodded in agreement. Qullum continued, “Well, it is because that piece of rock answered a lot of questions for our people. It shows that these anomalies are indeed warp-gates. We are in the process of studying the rock as we speak before it disintegrates from the gases in the nebula.” Qullum looked around the room and observed the reaction of the crew. He continued speaking, “I propose that we take the ship through the warp-gate.” The Captain immediately stood up and slammed his hands on the table and objected, “Like hell we are Mr. Gorgas! I am not risking the lives of my crew to find out what is on the other side of that thing. Who knows if you are even correct?” The Captain seemed pretty set in his ways. “Captain, I can guarantee that the ship will be fine. It will be a rough ride but we will make it through.” Counter argued Qullum. After a couple more hours of debate Qullum finally convinced the Captain to give it a shot. He did not like it and he had a bad feeling about it but he was going to permit it. “I am not trying to take command here, but once we break through to the other side,” stated Qullum Gorgas, “I want a full sensor sweep of the area around us. If we find nothing more then just some more nebulas then we turn around and come home. But if we find more then that, we continue on in our journey.” “Very well,” replied Captain Sh’tor, “But how do you suppose we open this thing up?” “That is a very good question sir, but I do not have the answer. I am guessing that it is basically motion sensitive. Once the ship closes in to a certain range I believe that it will open up and pull us through, resulting in us being able to shut the engines down for a brief period of time and save some power. But I cannot say for sure, all I know is it is worth a shot.” “Indeed it is,” the Captain, said in return, “I will have the ship and crew ready in about an hour. I want you on the bridge for the whole thing, as you know more about this then I do.” “Aye sir, I will take science station then.” Replied Mr. Gorgas. “Is there anything else?” asked the Captain. “No? All right, dismissed everyone. Lets get to work!” At that everyone left the conference room to begin preparing the ship for its travel into the warp-gate. An hour later the ship was ready as she would ever be. They had already sent a message back to command informing them of their situation. They approved of the decision to take the ship in. “Take us to full alert! It’s time to rock and roll!” began the Captain, even though he didn’t like the idea of doing this he was slowly finding that he was actually enjoying it. It was the first bit of action he would take a part of after being put in command of the starship Expedition . “Helm, take us in. Nice and slow, one third speed.” The ship slowly began to move once more. As it closed in on the small sector of space everyone was tense and excited. It was time to find out how the future would play out. “5000 parsecs and closing sir.” Came the report from helm. “Continue on course. Everyone be ready for a rough ride.” Replied the Captain. “3000 parsec and still closing. 2000. 1500.” When the ship got closer then 1500 parsecs a bright light flashed forth and when everyone could see out the main viewer once more there was a huge tunnel like system ahead of them. “Steady as she goes ensign.” Commanded the Captain. Qullum’s face lit up with sheer joy at this marvelous vision he was now witnessing. “Ensign, report.” Said Captain Sh’tor. “We are approaching the threshold of the tunnel sir.” Came the reply. “Threshold breached.” Just as the ensign said that the ship jolted suddenly. “Keep her going ensign. We will ride it out.” Qullum was flying over his consol running scans and recording the whole event. Even if there was nothing on the other side he would at least have this memory to relive again and again. The ship continued on its course and it continued to rock and move about like it was on the open sea during a huge storm. “Status reports!” yelled the Captain as he was bracing himself in his command chair. “Speed still holding steady sir.” Came the report from helm. “Hull integrity down to 87% and falling sir. I do not know how much more of this we can take Captain.” Replied engineering. “Qullum, this better work, or we are all dead!” barked the Captain to Qullum Gorgas whom did not even look up at the Captain but continued running scans. “Do not worry Captain, it will be fine.” Replied Qullum as he continued working. A couple minutes later another bright light flashed before them and then just as sudden as it started, the jolting came to a stop. Before the view screen could display the space outside the ship the Captain stood up and told his helmsman to come to a complete stop. “Complete stop reached sir.” “Now what are our coordinates? Where are we?” inquired the Captain. The helmsman’s fingers flew around on his consol and he then replied, “Coordinates unknown sir. I do not know where we are.” He continued to punch in commands as the Captain walked around to the sensor station. “What is your status here?” Same as helm sir, nothing is registering on sensors. There is some heavy interference out there.” The Captain rubbed his chin as he walked over to Qullum. Before he could ask Qullum a question the sensor officer spoke, “Sir… You might want to have a look at this. I got through the static, I am displaying it on the main view screen.” All eyes turned toward the massive screen as it flickered to life. As the image came to its full resolution everyone just blankly stared at it. They could not believe their eyes. It was an amazing site to behold... ----------- The saga continues... [ December 20, 2002, 23:14: Message edited by: Ragnarok ] |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Bump
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
rags, I didn't need the bump! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
I think that there is a place for you in SI-FI writing. Seriously! All have been very good reads. But this surpasses them. The tension on the station between the Capt. and XO, very very nice touch! Don't get me wrong, ALL of the story was, great. That aspect, just jumped out at me. WHEW! shoot I am going to go read it again! Damn, that is good! mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
I guess you're right. You didn't need the bump you were probably still reading it due to it being so long. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
But thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. I too enjoyed this chapter more then any of the others it was so good that I just could not stop writing it. I hope to continue it's greatness in the next chapter. The tension between the Captain and the XO was just for added depth to the story. I wanted to break away from Qullum for a little bit. Hopefully the chapter after next I will break away even more from Qullum and focus in on some side stories. But thanks again for the great feedback. I thought it was a good story but didn't think it was that good. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
rags, BELIEVE! It is that good. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
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Only part I am slightly dissapointed with is the ending. I could not capture the looks on everyones faces when they saw what they saw on the screen. (Which we find out next chapter what it was.) But it will do. To me one of the parts of a story that you want to be good is the ending. To get people motivated to come back and read the next installment. But I am sure you, mlmbd, will come back even if the ending was bad. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Just wanted to assure you that mlmbd isn't the only one reading and enjoying your story. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
I especially like the parts that describe Hedorvah society from their own viewpoint. Describing an alien culture without sounding like a college lecture can be tricky. [ December 21, 2002, 20:00: Message edited by: capnq ] |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
rags, you are right
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Being that it is a text story. Might be a little difficult (even for U) for people to actually see them and their expressions! mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
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I agree though, I enjoy being able to describe their culture from their own POV unstead of an aliens POV. |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
rags, so when might we see a new chapter? Just me, being me! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
<font color=purple>mlmbd http://www.shrapnelgames.com//ubb/icons/icon6.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif </font> |
Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
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Re: Hevordah Imperium - Story thread - Updated 6-13-03!
Editors note: Itss time for a new chapter. Chaper 4-2 is finally done in all its glory and out for the public to read. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. I am extreamly happy with it and its development. It is about 3,200 words long. Not quite as long as the Last chapter. (6,400 words) still a pretty good size. I will be taking a few days off from writing now and I hope to have the next chapter done next week sometime. But as you know RL can change that. Feedback wanted!
----------------------------------------- Chapter 4 - 2 Explorations of the Great Unknown – Part 2 The eyes of the crew were still adjusting to the brightness of what they were seeing on the screen. Captain Sh’tor was busy going from station to station getting the latest on sensor readings and anything other information that he could get off of what was out there. Qullum was steadily inputting and running constant scans of the space around them trying to get a better understanding of what was seen. He had ideas of what it all was but he was not about to speak those ideas, as he knew that they would probably not receive the best reception. The Captain of the space ship Expedition soon began issuing commands to the rest of the crewmen that were not on the bridge but throughout the ship. “Engineering, I want you to begin repairs of the most important systems that were even slightly damaged in the transit. I expect everything to be in tip top shape by 1400 hours today.” Said the Captain to chief engineer Temear Mushula; a young female officer that was rising very fast to become the best engineer in Hevordian history. She had already solved some of the most difficult questions in the field of engineering. When she was younger no one ever thought she would amount to anything, she was always the geek in school. Even her closest of friends thought she was a geek. But now look at her, she is the engineer in charge on the first ever space borne ship in Hevordian history. She may have been a geek, but she proved to become something extremely special to her people; her one-time “friends” of the past were now living very, shall we say… common… lives? They were remote miners on Kriekaal. Many have said it serves them right for making fun of one of the most brilliant minds in their recent history. The Captain then made his way to the back of the ship to the science station where Qullum was working. He began to speak, “Mr. Gorgas, what have you got so far? I would like to know where we are as soon as possible.” Qullum just looked at the Captain for a moment before answering. “I am working the best that I can, sir. If I knew where we were you would be the first to know. Right now we are still encountering interference to the scanners; we are working at getting things cleared up.” “Very well then,” replied Captain Sh’tor, “Oh and another thing, is it possible to send a communications log back to Kriekaal to update command of our situation?” Qullum began pondering all the possibilities of whether it was possible or not to send a communiqué back to command. He then reached a conclusion. “I see no reason why we could not do so Captain. Before we went through the portal we launched a stationary probe at our Last position in order to record our transit from that angle. I imagine that if we program the main deflector array to send strong enough signal back to that probe then we could use that to boost our communications link with command. It will take some time to recalibrate the dish to handle the stress of sending that strong of a signal but it can be done.” The Captain nodded and then said, “Very well. Get it done as soon as possible. I want to begin relaying information back to command of our current situation and to receive further orders.” Qullum simply nodded and punched a couple buttons on his consol and he entered the lift to make his way down to engineering to begin preparations for sending the communication signal. Somewhere else in the universe… “My lord… I have newss for you…” began a short fellow who apparently had been in many fights before as his face was badly scarred. “What is it?” came the reply of the tall man that never came out into the light to reveal his face. The short alien figure began to pace across the room. “I have jusst received a communiqué from Mr. Rodale on the planet Kriekaal…” “And…?” replied the Overlord. “He ssaid that the Hevordian people have jusst disscovered their firsst sstar ssysstem, ssir. They are finally exploring the galaxy.” Came the eerie voice of the shorter hunched over figure. “Very well…I trust you have made the same preparations of the other species in the galaxy. Soon my friend… Soon we will how powerful the Hevordian people are. It was written in the ancient texts that they were the chosen ones that our Supreme Trimver entrusted with the gift. They have shown signs of possessing this gift but many species in the past have shown evidence of the gift as well. We can never be too cautious my dear slaves. We can never be too cautious.” The tall figure stepped back further into the shadows. While you could not see his face you could feel it in the room that he had an evil grin on his face as he walked away. Back on Kriekaal… 2400.3.21 It was an unusually slow day down on the planet surface as many people went about their normal lives once more. A couple days earlier there was much activity in the prime city on Kriekaal as the news about the mission reached the planet. Not much detail was given besides the fact that the ship Expedition had went to explore the strange pockets of gases at the far end of the nebula and that they were almost destroyed when an object came through that particular spot; of course we all know that object to be the asteroid. And also that, after examining the situation they were in they had decided to try to go through what Qullum Gorgas had deemed a “Warp-gate”. After which they lost communication with the ship and assumed all hands lost. They were not able to get a communiqué channel open to the ship and had assumed the worst. They would send out another ship to investigate the situation further, but they would make no further attempt to transit the portal. Mr. Rodale was in his office preparing for another days work at the office. Nothing new to what he had grown accustomed to, he would simply be meeting with the other seven board members and discussing grants, proposals for development of the planet and so forth. Something he wished he could get away from. After all, his mission on this planet was virtually over with. He was now to simply tie up the loose ends and fake his death so that he could return to his home world, which was not too hard of a task for such a smart man. While he was going over some statements that he had received his hologrid came to life. On the screen came the face of Civ’I, fellow member of the board. “Good morning,” came the words out of the youngest member of the board. Mr. Rodale did the customary salute for all members of the board and replied, “Good morning to you too Civ’I, how may I help you today?” Civ’I returned the smile that he received from Mr. Rodale and he stated, “Well, since we had not heard anything from Expedition we assumed the worse.” Rodale began to wonder what the point of this communiqué was all about. “Yes, I am aware of the situation. What about it?” replied Rodale in an almost frustrated tone. “Well Mr. Rodale, it appears that Expedition is alive and kicking sir.” “What? How can this be? We have not picked up any signals from the ship and we have not heard anything from them through communications channels for almost a week now.” Came the surprised, albeit, excited reply from Rodale. The young man basically shrugged his shoulders and said; “We do not know the details right now sir. It was a very basic communication that we received from them. The Chairman is calling for a immediate conference with the rest of the board members and also the top 3 people in charge at GorgaSpace, Inc.” “Very well,” replied Rodale, “I have to do a couple other things before I can get there. I should be there in about 20 minutes.” Civ’I simply nodded and terminated the comm. link. Back on the ship Expedition… After about 8 hours Qullum finally had the main deflector array ready to send the signal back through the portal, while it was not 100% ready to go Qullum had left the rest of the work to his colleagues due to the amount of work he had yet to finish. Qullum set off from engineering to head to astrophysics to complete his work on figuring out where they were exactly. He had already spent a large amount of time trying to find a way around the interference that was plaguing the ships sensor arrays. After recalibrating the sensor array over 35 times Qullum had finally figured out how to get past the interference. After he had done so and after getting his initial results back from the computer he compiled a detailed list of everything they were picking up in the system. But he did not think that that was everything out there. So he went back to work extending the range of the sensors only to pick up about twice as many objects has his first scans had brought in. Once Qullum had finished scanning everything in this particular sector of space he called up the Captain and other commanding officers to have a conference about it all. “This is Qullum Gorgas,” began Qullum over the shipboard communications systems, “to all commanding officers on the ship, including Captain Sh’tor. I wish to convene with everyone at the soonest possible time. I have some groundbreaking information that I wish to discuss with you all. Gorgas out.” Two hours later all the commanding staff had assembled in the main conference room located on the first deck of the ship and just off the right side of the main bridge. After everyone had taken their seats Qullum stood up and began to speak. “You are no doubt wondering why I brought you all here at this particular time.” Stated Qullum. Every simply nodded and Qullum continued. “And you rightfully are curious. I would be too if I were in your position. But anyways, the whole point of me bring you here is to inform you of our current situation with scans and so forth. After many hours of hard work and recalibrating sensor arrays and extending the frequency of such scans, we have finally broken through the interference.” Every began hoping that it could only mean good news but they did not want to openly express their happiness until it was indeed a good thing. Qullum continued, “While to the naked eye we could guess what was out there we did not make any assumptions for fear that we could be wrong and we would lose the trust of not only your crew, but also of our society. I have compiled a detailed list of our findings and they are as follows…” Qullum then walked over to a screen located on the wall and pressed a few buttons and a readout of the system came to life in the center of the conference table they were seated at. While everyone silently went over the information found on the holo projection that was displayed Qullum read off the items. “First of all we have mapped out this whole area of space into 144 sectors. Each sector consists of just less than 1 light-year. In these 144 different sectors we have discovered a total of 44 objects. I will now itemize everything we found.” Began Qullum. “There are a total of 22 different planets, ranging in size from tiny, to huge. Out of these 22 different planets there are 5 that our people can breathe if we were to land on the surface. In 17 different sectors we have found what we will call asteroid belts. In 2 other sectors we have scanned magnetic space storms. Whether these are a danger to the ship we do not know yet. In yet another 2 sectors we have found warp-gates; similar in shape and size to the one that we traversed just a week and a half ago. Last but not least in the center of the system there is a star that illuminates the whole sector of space.” Qullum stopped speaking for a brief moment before he continued on. “We have spent many hours studying our discoveries over the past couple days and the more we go over the information the more details we find out about each of these items. I just wanted to debrief you all on our current status in this star system. If the Captain has nothing further then you are dismissed.” The Captain thought for a minute then came to the conclusion that he had nothing further and he stood up to walk out of the conference room. Qullum also began to walk out as he remembered one more detail. “Oh!” he exclaimed. Everyone turned back around to look at him as he said, “I forgot to mention one other detail. We still do not know where we are; we do not know how far we are from Kriekaal. All that is known is it is very far from our home. We will keep you all informed as more information becomes available. That will be all.” Qullum continued to walk out the room and as he walked past the Captain he just simply nodded and smiled and made his way to the lift to go to his quarters and get some much needed rest. Back on Kriekaal… Civ’I, Mr. Rodale, Mitolth, Talishka, and the other members of the board convened in their main chamber of conference. Before they had went into the room they were all debriefed as to what the situation of Expedition was in before they lost contact. They did not know however what their current status was; and that was what this whole meeting was to discuss. Everyone found their regular seats and they all organized their positions in order to get any information on the matter at hand in a quick and efficient manner. After everyone was ready to proceed the Chairman spoke. “Ladies and gentlemen of the board. As you are all no doubt aware I called this impromptu meeting in order to reevaluate the status of the star ship Expedition. When the ship first launched it was a great day in our history, for our people to finally be reaching out into the nebula in which we call home was a great accomplishment. But alas, it was not a completely successful mission; at least, so it appeared. We lost contact with Expedition approximately 2 weeks ago to this day. We received no communiqués from the ship and we scanned no debris of the ship in their Last known coordinates; we had assumed the worst and declared to our society and to all families involved that the ship had mysteriously vanished with all hands lost.” The Chairman continued on in his speech. “Not much was said about the matter over the past few days; that was, until this morning. Over at the new Communications Command Center, or as we have come to know it, the CCC, that was specifically built for the purpose of communicating with ships as they journeyed the nebula, they were monitoring all frequencies to pick up anything they possibly could; hoping to pick up on a communication that maybe got lost in subspace on its way back to the center. Everything was going just as it has been for the Last two weeks, with nothing on the channels but the occasional subspace bleep that amounted to nothing. But then suddenly at 0400 hours we received a communications signal from Expedition.” Everyone’s eyes went from their normal white with slight yellow ring in them to a bright yellow that indicated their excitement. The Chairman could tell everyone wanted to hear more information so he continued on. “I will now replay the recording that we received.” The Chairman reached over to the table before him and hit a button. The Chairman grabbed his drink and took a few sips while he waited for the recording to begin. Throughout the room the speakers began to play the recording for all members of the board to hear. “This is Captain Sh’tor of the space ship Expedition calling Command Center.” You could tell that the computer systems were filtering out all the interference that it possibly could while it played the message. “The current date is 2400.3.10. This message cannot be long as we are boosting our signal using the tracking probe we left when we began our journey through the portal. We made it through safely; the ship took relatively no damage except to a few key systems. We do not know exactly where we are located but Qullum Gorgas and his teams of experts are working feverishly trying to figure it out. We are going to remain stationed here until we can receive more information from the surrounding area of space. You are probably wondering what we have discovered so far. Well we do not have much information at this point on that matter either. Our sensors are having some trouble breaking through the interference that we are receiving; Qullum and his gang are also working toward fixing that problem.” In the background you can hear someone yell something at the Captain, then the Captain comes back on. “I was just informed that our boosting time is running out. I will have to cut this shorter then I would like to. To reply to this message just send a recording to the coordinates of the tracking probe we left. Captain Sh’tor out.” The Chairman took a final sip of his drink then he set it down on the table. “There you have it. That is all the information we have on the situation on hand. The crew of Expedition is still alive and made it through the portal with hardly any problems. Our society is advancing at a much faster pace then expected; and while I did not agree with this whole mission in the first place, I find myself hoping that they find other planets out there. We are not going to debate on whether what to do or what we are going to tell the crew when we respond to their message. However, I do wish to raise a matter to you all that I find to be rather important. It has to do with Qullum Gorgas and his position in our society. --------------- The saga Continues... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif |
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