[Time: Shortly (and we mean *shortly*) before the SOS-con announcement.]
Somewhere, a man placed a call to a company located in Washington.
High above the paciifc ocean, someone answered...
***
"Winter Media Services, how may I help you?" As I spoke, the van's computer took my words, remodulated them into a rather chirpy female voice, and scrubbed the background noise. The overall effect was... well, moderately disturbing for me to listen to, but it presented the necessary image.
"Just one moment... Yes, Mr. Howard, your order is on schedule for pickup this friday, barring any unforseen circumstances."
"You want to expand your order by 30%? I'll need to check with production on that, please hold on."
At this point, I would normally put the line on hold for long enough to make them think I was actually doing something, then respond affirmatively. But before I could do that I was interrupted by a flashing red bar on the left of the windshield. I read the message, sighed, and reopened the line.
"I'm sorry, but we're already at full capacity for the rest of this week. ... Yes. Yes. The additional units can be ready next thursday. ... Yes. Thank you for choosing Winter Media Services!"
As soon as the bar indicating an open groundside call vanished, I sighed. "Okay, Irene, why exactly did you tell me to *not* do something that would make us more money on this deal?"
A window opened off to the side showing Irene's blue-haired visage. "Someone called a Convention."
I was unimpressed. "So?"
"So, you couldn't do the larger order and still make it to the con on time."
"So?"
Irene's ears twitched. "Look, an out of schedule Con probably means something unusual is going on. And last time I checked, you seemed to care about that sort of thing. And besides, there'll probably be some more of those obscure-stuff panels you like so much. SO STOP ACTING LIKE IT DOESN'T RELATE TO YOU ALREADY!!"
I winced. "Okay, okay, just stop yelling... We -will- have time to do the original order first though, right?"
"If we don't waste time, we should be able to finish up and get there before the rush. I'm already warming up the machine."
"Just don't forget to open the garage for me."
"Very funny. Irene out."
***
I checked over Irene's timetable while heading back to the Hofwell's Field. She was right, we could manage it, but the timing would be tight. So instead of taking a break (or a nap) the way I usually do after a trip downside, I started unloading my cargo immediately.
When I unloaded them from the van, they looked like seamless blocks of plastic. In a certain sense, that was even what they were. As each one slid into it's place in the machine, it's sides melted away, leaving behind a more delicate structure that supported it's contents while leaving them accessible.
And you know, it's not even the weirdest way of transporting blank discs I've run into. Proof that not everything bizarre needs to have plotdevite behind it. Admittedly, I like my method better.
Once that was finished, I went back to the van for the master discs the customer had sent us, while Irene started the motors that set the side panels in place.
A monitor labeled 'Irene only' lit up, showing Irene watching curiously as I put the discs into the read drives. "So, what is it this time?"
I checked the paperwork that was in the zip-folder with the master discs, then frowned. "I have absolutely no idea."
"Well, I guess I'lll find out soon enough. Loading..." Irene's eyes closed, then slowly slid open, her arms spreading wider as an imaginary wind ruffled her hair... then suddenly stopped. "Eeeeewww!"
"What?"
"Look at this!" Irene put an image up on the auxillary monitor.
I stared at it for a moment, tilting my head to look at it from different angles, trying to figure out what the heck I was actually looking at. Then, all of a sudden... "Eeeewww!!"
"Do we really have to do this one?"
I sighed. "As a professional dvd replication service with a reputation to maintain, Winter Media Services must provide it's best effort on even distasteful jobs, until and unless someone gives us an excuse to set the law on them... and can you take that off the screen please?"
"That's easy for you to say. *I'm* the one who has to run the duplicator here."
"Um... try not to look at it?"
"Fine. But you'd better really appreciate this," she said, and scrunched her eyes shut.
I quickly turned to watch the exterior monitors. Normally Irene is fully aware of everything around the Field regardless of what her icon looks like, but when she makes that face, it usually means she's not seeing anything for the duration. I didn't really expect anyone to ram us; most people pay closer attention than that in the inner system. But there was no reason to take chances. Besides, looking the other direction would soon be very uncomfortable without sunglasses. Yeah, even though the machine itself is light-tight.
The overhead lights went out. Strange light patterns flickered across the walls. It looked a bit like what a few hundred photocopiers in a disorganized heap might project if they were all set off at once. I've never really understood why; the machine doesn't have that much in common with them. It doesn't really have that much in common with dvd drives either, really, despite being made from parts from them.
The lights turned back on, and Irene opened her eyes again. "... Eeeeeww."
I sighed and brushed the side of the monitor with my hand. Distracted from her indignation, Irene rubbed up against the side of the screen and purred.
One run down, four more to go... It was going to be a long day.

Introductions finished, the jounin looked at each of them for a moment, then smirked. "While it's true that you have all passed theAcademy exam, there are other important skills for a ninja team that go beyond just that. Therefore, it is the duty of each jounin to administer another test to determine whether a rookie team will train under him or her."
"WHAAAT!?" Birds scattered from nearby trees in distress, and a few seconds later, an echo of the cry came back form the Hokage monument.
"Another test? Fine! I'll ace this too, and you'll see I'm the best ninja ever!" (the brash one) boasted, crossing (pronoun) arms and nodding descisively. "So, what's this test, huh?"
(sensei)'s smirk turned into a rather less than reassuring smile. "Ah, you see, that is the test. The three of you have twenty four hours to determine its nature and pass, or... you'll go back to the academy."
"WHAAAAAAT!!" If anything, the second time was louder. Even (the quiet one) dropped the kunai (pronoun) had been fiddling with, but didn't quite gape.
(sensei) just nodded in a (characteristic) way. "Don't worry so much if you can't pass, you won't be alone because no more than a third of the class will succeed. Your time starts.... NOW!" With a swirl of leaves and a thin puff of smoke, the jounin was gone, leaving three dumbfounded genin to trade incredulous looks and complain about how unfair it was.
=============
The test, of course, is for the three students to work together trying to get the information, and despite the heavy hand with the hints to that effect in the instructions they'll most likely not succeed without another chance.
Actually, this seems like a very Ibiki thing to do - maybe that's how the Ino-Shika-Cho team in TGNH got handled? Nathan?
- CDSERVO: Loook *deeeeply* into my eyes... Tell me, what do you see?
CROW: (hypnotized) A twisted man who wants to inflict his pain upon others.
For the next 72 hours, Itachi intoned, I will slap you with this trout. - Spying no Jutsu, chapter 3
"In the futuristic taco bell of the year 20XX, justice wears an aluminum sombrero!"hemlock-martini
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

Remember Captain Planet and the Planeteers?
Right.
[Team]Kwame: wheeler's dead again.
[Team]Wheeler: lol
[Team]Linka: Fire blasters draw too much aggro
[Team]Wheeler: any1 got rez
[Team]Gi: We need a tank...
[Team]Gi: Kwame should have rolled a stone tank, not an earth troller.
[Team]Kwame: hey dont blame me
[Team]Wheeler: rez plz
[Team]Linka: I'm a stormie, no rez
[Team]Kwame: ma-ti is emp
[Team]Kwame: ma-ti?
[Team]Gi: He's AFK.
[Team]Linka: He's always afk when we fight
[Team]Kwame: damn leech
[Team]Wheeler: lol
[Team]Wheeler: any1 got wakie
[Team]Linka: Sheesh
[Team]Wheeler: thx
[Team]Gi: I give up, let's just call Cap.
[Team]Kwame: ok
[Super Group]Kwame: cap?
[Super Group]Captain Planet: sec
[Super Group]Captain Planet: kk, back.
[Super Group]Captain Planet: Need help?
[Super Group]Kwame: yeah
[Super Group]Captain Planet: lol
[Super Group]Captain Planet: Let me exit mish
[Super Group]Kwame: ok
[Super Group]Captain Planet: Ready for invite
[Team]Captain Planet: thx
[Team]Captain Planet: omw
[Team]Kwame: wait for cap
[Team]Wheeler: k
[Team]Linka: Ok
[Team]Captain Planet: Exemp?
[Team]Gi: Actually, don't. Can you just clear the mish for us?
[Team]Captain Planet: lol no xp
[Team]Linka: That's okay, we're sick of this
[Team]Kwame: yeah
[Team]Wheeler: lol
[Team]Gi: Let's just finish the storyline
[Team]Captain Planet: kk

-- Acyl

boards.cityofheroes.com/s...t=all&vc=1--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

Or it will be once I finish working ideas out. Figured I could just make a thread to set down my vehicals/characters/history/ect, and hopefully have someone catch problems before I get too deep into them.
comments welcome
2nd edit (count is solely for my own curiosity)
***********************
Ship Name: SS Starhawk
Created by Tim Brazeau (Timote)
Registry Number: SS-
Base Hull: Douglas C-133B Cargomaster
Drive Type: Speed (max velocity 0.0075C)
Owner of Record: Wing and a Prayer Enterprises
Flag of Record: Canada
Purpose: Mobile Home, Cargo/Passenger Transport, Asteroid mining/prospecting,
Launched: Nov 13 2009
Crew:
* Tim Brazeau (captain/pilot)
* John 'J.T.' Carlson (Engineer)
* Rob Holmes (Navigator/co-pilot/Computer specialist)
* Amanda Elliston (cargomaster/gunner)
* George ___ (medic/cook/gunner)
Supplementary Crew:
* Thumper (ship's cat/mascot)
* Bob Mackenzie (AI)
* Doug Mackenzie (AI)
Supplementary vehicals:
* APE unit 1 (large exoframe for construction, maintenance and also used for loading large/heavy cargo.)
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* Lactose intolerant - The starhawk does not like milk. Bringing milk aboard causes a loss of roughly half the ship's power and lowered efficency of most systems. Oddly this is not triggered by other dairy products such as cheese, butter, or even dehydrated milk (as long as it remains in powdered form). The effects last for one or more hours after the milk is disposed of (1 hr if removed from the ship, drinking it doesn't help as the effect doesn't start to wear off until the milk is digested by the drinker's body.
* Great White North, eh? - The ship's AIs are based off of Bob and Doug Mackenzie (after a DVD of Strange Brew was left in the entertainment center overnight). Might be better described as Artificial Stupidities.
Known Crew Quirks:
* You want what? - Due to the ship's problem with milk, the crew tend to order it quite a bit when they are off the the ship. This gets them some rather odd looks when they order a glass of milk at a bar.
* Not telling - J.T. refuses to admit what his middle initial (T) stands for. Just that his mother named after an actor she was a fan of.
Faction: Generalist
Home Port: Babylon.5
Current Location:
Status:
Trivia:
* While Bob and Doug aren't the most efficient of AIs, Tim knows it could have been worse. A few days prior he'd left 'Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail' in the entertainment center. The thought of AIs based on _that_ film is disturbing to say the least.
* The base hull was purchased from Davis-Monthan AFB with assistance from Mr Morden/Johnson.
Description: Based on a military cargoplane, so the body is long and (relatively) narrow, split into Upper and Lower decks for the most part (it's a little less than 50ft tall). The wings are cut off roughly a meter/yard from the hull, with a pair of jury-rigged (and then 'waved) engines nestled underneath next to the hull.
The ship's weapon systems consist of a pair of quad turrets (one of the top and a retractable one below) whose designs are based on a mix of the millenium Falcon and WW2 bombers. As of SOS-con they are mostly bluff, as the crew still haven't gotten the power feeds to work properly. The guns are currently little more than really impressive looking laser pointers.
Power systems consist of a large Solid cube, with a hardtech backup system for lifesupport and communications.__________________
The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live. - George Carlin.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

*looks at size in k, wanders back out*"I was an Otaku before those kids came along and changed the meaning of the word."
-- HM "Howling Mad" Wilson to more than one team-mate.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

Well, uh, hi.
I'm of Dutch heritage (obviously) and am something of a geek and my current and strongest (also quite possibly lasting) fan obsession is Terry Pratchett, he of the great Discworld novels.
Also an associate of Mr. Fnord, long may he reign, Hail Eris, and am starting to dip into the Principia while we're on the subject.
Cheers!

Blackaeronaut - there is an issue with your biomod. It's not actually a balance issue. The best in-world approximation I can come up with is as follows.
Cool Stuff:
- The arm is Really Quite Tough, possibly to the point of being effectively armored, and possibly somewhat sronger than normal.
- The arm has a sort of limited short-range, three-use-then-rest-awhile speed drive that sends it flying at the enemy and drags the rest of your body along for the ride. Requires that you Call Out Your Attacks.
Significant disadvantages:
- Your arm is Really Quite Ugly
- (probable) there are low levels of ongoing damage that don't ever quite heal. Using the speed drive will make them worse over time.
Random Side Effect:
- The speed drive is quirky, and constantly bleeds off a bit of motive power in a way that causes a constant strong breeze to be blowing by your head and neck. (I really couldn't figure any good way to include random scarves in the effect without an actual breeze.)
This would be fine, given some good writing to back it up, except... it's pretty clearly a weapon. I can't think of any way to run what you're suggesting without it being a weapon - and last I'd seen, we weren't allowing biomods that were explicitly weaponized. If you can think of a way to have this thing without it being either primarily a weapon or ridiculously overpowered, I'd love to hear it.
For the transformation abilities - I'm not at all sure what you mean here, unless you're talking about the upgrades he gets over the course of the series, in which case you're running pretty heavily into the "you only get one" part of the rule.
It might also be worth putting in a few mundane quirks to give your character a few more interesting attributes to hang storybits off of.

I'm looking for a fic I read a while back. One of the first scenes, if not the first scene, was Harry getting into a shootout with some Order members who were stunning and obliviating Petunia and a social worker who had just shown up. I think I remember the social worker driving a grey Rolls Royce. Later on in the fic, she tells Harry that next time he encounters Voldie, to get help, and then "don't worry about putting him on the Isle of Wight, you put him in the morgue". I can't remember where I read this fic, but it might have been either Portkey or Schnoogle. Thanks for the help!
-WFalling out of aeroplanes and hiding out in holes
Waiting for the sunset to come, people going home
Jump out from behind them and shoot them in the head
Now everybody dancing the dance of the deadFalling out of aeroplanes and hiding out in holes

Waiting for the sunset to come, people going home

Jump out from behind them and shoot them in the head

Now everybody dancing the dance of the dead

Quote:

---

* Has been seeking a nickle-iron asteroid to turn into an asteroid habitat for the purposes of setting up a living area and boarding school/college, because there will be another generation of Fen and they'll need to be educated.

---