Jeez Louise, that was quite a flurry of posting, CIAS & choie.
I'm just going to make my next one:
Graham takes five to use the bathroom. /end
Jeez Louise, that was quite a flurry of posting, CIAS & choie.
I'm just going to make my next one:
Graham takes five to use the bathroom. /end
Thanks for the recs, EH! I've heard great things about The Theory of Everything, and I'm inclined to go if only to see wonderful David Thewlis not playing a scumbag for once.
Originally posted by general_urko
ROTFL. Well, I'm online very late (I keep odd hours) and they coincide with CIAS's over in the UK, so... we got on a bit of a roll and were able to let Kylah & Velir bounce ideas off each other.
I must say if this Klingon stuff actually goes anywhere, my hat's off to EH for seeding in those clues so deftly, especially the "Q" thing and the dream.
Of course I'm also the genius who thought "Co. Bd." was something other than "Company Board" so I'm clearly the John "A Beautiful Mind" Nash of the group, the nutjob seeing patterns that just aren't there. I'm probably way off again.
Last edited by choie; 07 Jan 2015 at 04:50 PM.
Yes, in fact, he plays a good guy - an academic who reminded me just a little of another such role of his, Prof. Lupin.
Oy, tell me about it--when I saw his interaction w/Hawking in one of the extended trailers, he was so Lupinesque I wanted to cry. I'm still mourning that guy. Curse you, Rowling!
*phew* I thought I was going to have to go back and reread the last four pages. Good call, Kylah.
Last edited by anyrose; 08 Jan 2015 at 04:07 PM.
So, status quo, then?
Don't worry, I was going to PM you the link to the Klingon incident reference. I thought it would be fun to get some input from Collins again and you might enjoy being back in the game for a bit. Even if the only response Collins gave was something like, "Oh yeah, I think the Romulans were, uh, getting into a fight with some... people... somewhere?"
Kylah stares without comprehension at the datapad. "Why yes, yes I have. I see there are four files. One, two, three... yep, four. I'm.... not entirely sure why I only looked at how many files there are without actually looking to see their names or dates, much less their contents. But I did find out the number. Do you think I should click on them to find out?"
Oh HELL yes!
Last edited by choie; 09 Jan 2015 at 01:43 PM.
We appear to have been joined by Ebling of the Yard
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Ha!
If she's from the Yard she's worse than Lestrade ever was. Girlfriend lets her target loose to attack Starfleet officers, never giving them even a heads-up? Starfleet's really firing on all cylinders when it comes to their investigative prowess.
And gang, we need to make sure we close this case, because HELLS NO to her forcing us to turn over the investigation! There'll be a cover-up for sure. We had no real closure with the Sakathian mission and Waite, I'll be damned if we end up in the dark again.
Heh, it was Rangin who discovered those evidence files first. Delaney and Garcia just decrypted them. Why am I not surprised Graham left this little factoid out?
Well really encrypted files don't tell us anything...Heh, it was Rangin who discovered those evidence files first. Delaney and Garcia just decrypted them. Why am I not surprised Graham left this little factoid out?
Guess what, no files at all tell us even lessWell really encrypted files don't tell us anything...Heh, it was Rangin who discovered those evidence files first. Delaney and Garcia just decrypted them. Why am I not surprised Graham left this little factoid out?*high fives choie*
And agreed on trying to close the case down before anyone else gets here.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Oooh another potential flashpoint for conflict on the team, as we are beginning to see ....
I can't tell whether to be surprised that Graham appears to believe in pursuing justice only for people he personally likes. I think I would've expected him to be one of those maverick cops who'll defy authority because he wants the guilty to be fried found and properly processed through the legal system, no matter who they are. Even if the victim isn't an innocent, likeable damsel in distress person.Oooh another potential flashpoint for conflict on the team, as we are beginning to see ....
Besides, what happened to that picture of Wilson's wife and wide-eyed little kiddies, the one he put at the head of the CP table so that we'd remember those to whom we were supposed to be answerable?
In any event, Ebling pisses me off and I don't trust her. She has a lot to answer for, if you ask me. I was gonna explain why but nah, I'll let Kylah explain to Velir if he happens to ask.
Right back atcha, CIAS. Kylah's gotta take care of her boo. (Or "bae" as I believe the young kids are saying nowadays.)Guess what, no files at all tell us even less
For realsies! There's gotta be a way to get at Palver without merely relying on testimony from two highly unreliable sources (who'd be willing to blame anyone--as any good defense attorney Palver would hire might well argue).
choie, I can't reply to your comments yet about Graham because as I started to write one, I realized some of what I was writing might, in-game, provoke another screed from Rangin
Ooh intriguing. Well, Kylah's thoughts are basically out there--if Ebling had informed them of the investigation into Hardin, it's likely neither Kylah nor Graham would've been cold-cocked by Hardin's stun weapon.choie, I can't reply to your comments yet about Graham because as I started to write one, I realized some of what I was writing might, in-game, provoke another screed from Rangin
In any event, where's Palver, dammit?!!
Dude! I know Kylah had heard about the jammers from T'Var, Graham & St. Croix. But in the post I linked to, I wrote (bolding the rather important part):
So, yeah. Kylah specifically asks Rawlings to ask Graham to see if a transporter jammer can be placed near the guest houses. I'm not sure how much clearer she could've gotten."Thank you, Mr. Rawlings," she says, turning to Velir automatically when she learns that Palver is leaving. "I am not in command any longer, but... I would strongly recommend you follow him discreetly. As best you can. But you should probably confirm that with Mr. Graham in case he thinks there is a better option." She pauses and then wonders what might happen if Palver were to beam away... "While you are speaking with him, can you please see if a transporter jammer can be placed near the guest houses? I have no idea if this is legal--but let our mission commander decide."
I know I write a lot but that was in one of the early paragraphs of that post. I guess you missed it, and that's fine, because heaven knows I miss stuff too. But what's done is done, the words were said, and there's really no weaseling out for Rawlings here. He needs to admit he fucked up, and big time.
A pattern has been that NPCs tend to make excuses for every mistake (e.g. Peters with his almost pathological inability to remember how many damn knives were stolen; Delaney when he couldn't remember that Wilson had used the word "she" in talking about the guest who was in the yellow house; Garcia who decided Kjaerstad's need to look at videos was more important than backing Kylah up in a potentially dangerous situation; or even Jan, who couldn't make a decent apology to Kylah but just said "gosh I had no idea, I thought you enjoyed it, but hey maybe we can do this again sometime" and got the hell outta Dodge). It's as if they're all programmed to avoid responsibility!
So since this is very very obviously an error, can't we just please have one of these side characters acknowledge a massive screw-up?
I mean, we either blame the GM for not reading, or the NPC for not obeying/remembering. I think a more noble NPC would jump on that grenade for his creator.
And I suppose the team's not allowed to be upset that Captain Singh allowed the Trimalchio to drop shields 20 minutes ago without the crack Security genius Cmdr. Vargas bothering to mention this fact to Graham or any of the rest of the gang? Y'know, so we'd've known that the Trimalchio was now open for transporting business? I mean, WTF, Yorktown? general_urko I sure as hell hope Graham makes mention of this idiocy to someone.
Well.
The passages I noted in the game thread were what I interpreted to be the orders for the placement of the transporter jammers. The key concern, as expressed earlier, was someone whisking away or attacking the three prisoners. St. Croix said three jammers would be beamed down, and no one inquired as to their range or if those would be sufficient for three suspects in custody and Palver, who was already at some distance away.
Clarity and unity of command are undoubted virtues. If an NPC does not appear to have followed through as expected or as ordered, of course you'll want to remind him immediately, or follow up later. And as far as anyone on the Yorktown knows, all suspects are already in custody and there is no particular need for any ship in orbit to keep shields up anymore, or to notify the landing party when any are dropped. Vargas has twice advised you to arrest anyone you think ought to be arrested; Palver remained at liberty.
And yes, I read everything posted. But I do not - and the dice do not - always do what is expected. Life is messy. Mistakes occur. Shit transpires. Military history, in particular, is full of errors - often fatal ones - which occurred because of ambiguous orders, poor follow-through and incompetent or responsibility-averse subordinates. I speak not of you, but of the NPCs.
It's a game. Just roll with it.
Yeeees, obviously, which is the whole reason Kylah asked Rawlings to contact Graham about that! Why is this so hard to acknowledge?!!
OMG, it's happening again, we're being blamed for mistakes by NPCs. WHY would the Yorktown assume that all suspects were already in custody? Why would an experienced Security Chief "assume" anything in such a situation? Vargas said "be damn sure the charges will stick." So no, of course Palver remained at liberty; that didn't mean he wasn't a suspect, for chrissake. What idiotic Security Officer would think that? What real-life law enforcement officer would?And as far as anyone on the Yorktown knows, all suspects are already in custody and there is no particular need for any ship in orbit to keep shields up anymore, or to notify the landing party when any are dropped. Vargas has twice advised you to arrest anyone you think ought to be arrested; Palver remained at liberty.
Remember, we're talking only a matter of minutes, maybe ten or so, before this apparent twenty-minute lapse in the shields began. (It hasn't been that long since Kylah/Rangin/Graham were told to arrest whoever they wanted "as long as the charges will stick.") Let's be generous and say it was thirty minutes later that the Trimalchio--a ship that had been the would-be getaway destination of a possible murderer--asks to lower its shields. Vargas's (or Singh's) brilliant tactical decision is that well, they haven't heard of any arrest in a half-hour, so clearly no arrests are gonna be made, and who cares anymore? It's a free-for-all, people!
Really? That's the Yorktown's experienced captain and/or top security officer's default position? Shrugging shoulders and thinking, "Okay, well, I haven't heard of any arrest, so sure, I might as well let the Trimalchio lift its shields without even bothering to double-check with the investigators first, much less telling them afterwards. I'm sure these Ensigns I've placed in charge of a murder investigation will, after only thirty minutes, have made all the arrests they'll ever need, complete with air-tight cases as demanded. If not? Meh."
Sweet Jesus, thank God Vargas is leaving if he's this bad at his job.
Okay, now I'm actually genuinely irked. Is that really fair? I, and the rest of us, have been rolling with it for several years. The bolded lines are perilously close to "Mistakes were made. By someone. Not saying it was me, not gonna do that, but they were made." Am I talking to Donald Rumsfeld?And yes, I read everything posted. But I do not - and the dice do not - always do what is expected. Life is messy. Mistakes occur. Shit transpires. Military history, in particular, is full of errors - often fatal ones - which occurred because of ambiguous orders, poor follow-through and incompetent or responsibility-averse subordinates. I speak not of you, but of the NPCs.
It's a game. Just roll with it.
What pisses me off so much about that is, Kylah made a (damn good) suggestion, Rawlings didn't follow through, and when she pointed that out in-game by asking Rawlings to explain himself, you took an out-of-game comment to completely put the onus on me. (And I mean me, not Kylah.)
Wouldn't it have been fairer to just have Rawlings say something like, "Oh shit, you're right. Palver was about to get out of sight and I had to follow and... I just lost track of the order. I am sorry, I accept the responsibility" instead of making excuses for a goof-up? That was the most easy and thoroughly believable fix you could've made. Are there no officers except the PCs (other than Collins
Admitting mistakes and explaining them in-character... that is what "rolling with it" is all about. Kylah, Velir, Graham have all done it multiple times. I think Collins might've even done it once. Probably in private, to Graham, in a very small voice.
Your OOC green text that linked to irrelevant posts and implying that I'd forgotten who had spoken about the jammers made me out to be a twit with a bad memory, when to the contrary, in the actual relevant post to which I'd linked, Kylah had made a damned intelligent move (at last); the request just turned out to have been forgotten. Either on purpose or accidentally, by you or Rawlings.
To top it all, now, because I asked you to have Rawlings or your omniscient narrator acknowledge that Kylah did not screw up, that it was Rawlings (and now Vargas) who made fatal miscalculations... that's when I'm told "mistakes occur" and I should "just roll with it."
That's what is so frustrating. And unfair. And dismissive. And it makes me sad and kinda want to resign Kylah's commission.
Many thanks, as always, for sharing your views, choie. I am never in any doubt as to your opinions. But as I wrote, "I speak not of you, but of the NPCs." Rawlings, in-game, may indeed have screwed up. Kylah or others should call him on it, if so. This mission has gone on a long time - far longer than I thought it would - and has a lot of moving parts. I have certainly made my share of mistakes, for which I apologize.
Oh grief.
And yes, Rangin would not be too happy about Kylah scanning like that. Oh well.
*sigh* - you head off for a day and hell break loose behind you.
Although I know have this image of six-footer Rawlings being ripped a new one, by someone a tenth the size, and looking really abashed about it.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Oooh it's like Xmas in January...
"We'll settle any issues the old-fashioned way," Graham says. "Mano-a-mano fisticuffs. Since Ens. Kylah is female and as commanding officer I can't take sides, Rangin, you'll duke it out with Rawlings."
Last edited by general_urko; 16 Jan 2015 at 04:39 PM.
Some new Apocrypha
Me likey! Was that a Hot Fuzz joke near the end...?
You know, y'all're about to be kidnapped since as soon as you're aboard, Palver's gonna give the order to leave orbit.
Now there's an interesting theory....
Now why would he do something as stupid as that...*looks at the rest of the NPCs*...yeah, you're right.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
One step at a time, a "transporter accident" didn't just kill us so that's something...
Heh, we probably spent days in the transport buffer and are presumed lost. Yorktown is probably long gone and we're stuck with a lunatic with a freeze ray
Seriously: where do they get those wonderful toys.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Suddenly, Collins heroically beams in, stuns Palver, finds the release button freeing her shipmates, and beams back out without so much as a 'how do you do'
1. Gotta love the entirely different + entirely authentic responses by each of the frozen PCs
2. Well well I was ninja'd by EH but didn't actually have to change anything...
Good lord, where is this magical mental ability coming from? Memory Alpha says nothing about Rhaandarites' mental abilities--indeed they are, as I quoted, better suited to a subservient role than powerful psi creatures.
Another amusing tidbit from Memory Alpha about Rhaandarites: "They were very long-lived and didn't really reach maturity until they were 150 or so." Amusingly, according to his bio, Palver is only 57. That means he has the maturity level of a human 7-year-old!
Meta-wise, I really don't understand the determination to put Hardin in the murder scene at the cost of all credibility and logic. First we're told of a transporter buffer scheme--which turned out to have a pretty major science gaffe--and now the discovery that we've got a bulbous-headed Uri Gellar on our hands? All this despite no evidence of Rhaandarite psi abilities and the obvious problem that Dr. Villa was involved w/the autopsy too, and I doubt Uri's spoon-bending abilities reach up to the Yorktown. I think I preferred Hardin's heretofore unknown stun field technology.
Speaking of which, CIAS and general_urko, do either of you think as I do--that the way Hardin keeps getting revealed as being at the crime scene is... well, both unnecessary and impossible? He's in this up to his neck already, he doesn't have to be in the transporter room when every bit of evidence precludes it.
So I still don't trust Palver. Surely we're gonna get a rational, believable explanation for this mystery, something Trek-like, rather than a comic book universe with Brainiac the Supervillain controlling everyone. I bet Palver's lies will hopefully be explained as malicious attempts to drag Hardin even further into the mire.
He's a corrupt Vice Admiral of Starfleet. Everyone wants to put him at the scene of the crime to make sure he can never get out of the hole he dug himself.
Petty Corruption - a couple of years in a prison resort for retired grandees
Murder in the first - He's spending the rest of his life behind bars.
Also, if Palver is as he claims to be, T'Var is going to lobotomise him when she finds out. It's a perfectly logical way to stop him doing it again. You do not mess around with a Vulcan's mind like that. I almost feel sorry for him....almost.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Wow. Kylah just grew a pair!
I'll find out it Palver can really read minds:Wow. Kylah just grew a pair!
Uncharacteristically standing behind rather than in front of Kylah whens she's yelling at someone, Graham thinks "So this is what her ass looks like when she's angry."
Right, naturally, but we can get him for conspiracy to commit murder without Palver having to shove him somewhere he has literally no logical way of being. Palver can easily come up with proof that Hardin knew about--even suggested, if only half-heartedly--the idea of "neutralizing" Wilson. Besides, if Hardin were really frozen in place while Palver did the killing, he'd be guilty of being a trapped witness, which isn't exactly damning.
IMHO if Palver wants Hardin guilty of murder, presumably under the notion that he might get a deal/plea bargain out of this? He'll probably start giving us solid evidence of conspiracy. (And a motive would be nice. I think Palver was behind it, wanted to outbid WR&R/Wilson, then Wilson discovered that WR&R wasn't really going to get the contract after all and then threatened to reveal the corruption. That's the only thing that makes sense as to why Wilson would be a threat to anyone, and really, the only logical reason for Wilson to blab (given his own culpability for bribery) is if he had hopes of getting immunity if he testified against Hardin and Palver.
In fact, that might be something Ebling might know about. Something we should think about (if Palver doesn't explain it).
If Palver is as he claims to be, we've entered an alternate universe--or he's not really a Rhaandarite. Maybe he's got some Ornithoid blood in him!Also, if Palver is as he claims to be, T'Var is going to lobotomise him when she finds out. It's a perfectly logical way to stop him doing it again. You do not mess around with a Vulcan's mind like that. I almost feel sorry for him....almost.
It's gotta be technology. I'd be interested to find out if Palver had any connection to the Tantalus Penal Colony, which did have a neural neutralizer that gave them control over the prisoners' emotions. Palver could've had it adapted somehow. Although this makes the ship's crew part of the conspiracy, since they almost certainly would've known about such technology added to one of their rooms.
Hey, she's been mouthing off to people since the beginning of the mission. She stood up to the Hwuen, for pete's sake! But losing control over her own body was a trigger for her, not surprisingly, and it brought up her PTSD from her rape/non-consensual sex, whatever one wants to call it. (I consider it rape or as near as makes no difference, but it'd never be legally proven.)Wow. Kylah just grew a pair!
Plus I just always enjoy showing off her knowledge of Klingon culture. It's so antithetical to TOS-era Starfleet officers!
If she did indeed 'grow a pair,' I'm not entirely sure the view would be something he'd enjoy seeing.I'll find out it Palver can really read minds:Wow. Kylah just grew a pair!
Uncharacteristically standing behind rather than in front of Kylah whens she's yelling at someone, Graham thinks "So this is what her ass looks like when she's angry."
Last edited by choie; 23 Jan 2015 at 02:50 PM.
If she did indeed 'grow a pair,' I'm not entirely sure the view would be something he'd enjoy seeing.
Mind control of various types was not all that unusual in TOS-era Star Trek:
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Platonian
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Vian
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Redjac
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Melkot
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Talosian
Which does raise the question of why Starfleet would not issue its personnel Magneto helmets...
Which does raise the question of why Starfleet would not issue its personnel Magneto helmets...
Collins would never wear one - it'd hide her lovely red hair
I found a much better picture for Collins
Last edited by anyrose; 24 Jan 2015 at 01:44 PM.
"I would like that Magneto Helmet headband please, no, not that one, the one on the left...no the other one...were you weaned properly?"I found a much better picture for Collins
"I would like that Magneto Helmet headband please, no, not that one, the one on the left...no the other one...were you weaned properly?"
"The left... the other left... uh, is there someone else here I could talk to?"
Good find, anyrose. She fits Collins very well. And heaven knows she's better than that pic used for Dobson! The somewhat tarty gal never quite suited her.
Nice one anyrose
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
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