[OOC][PLOT] Planning for Arc 1 - Arrivals

[robkelk]

Clues for the clueless, please?  O_o

Discordianism is a (possibly farcical, possibly real) lifestyle/religion/etc. that promotes chaos and randomness. So, pretty much how Tomo already lives her life.

(See the Principia Discordia for details.)

[robkelk]

Just had a thought: Mikoto Misaka plays violin, too.

So, Michiru on first violin, Mikoto on second violin, Shinji on cello - we need one more for a full chamber quartet and then we can really kick Hild's metaphorical butt. Hmmmmm... There's a Mini-Goddess 4-koma that hints Skuld knows how to play bass, maybe.

[Black Aeronaut]

Hmmm.... Something I just thought of.

The US Air Force trains their fighter jet pilots here. (Randolph AFB)

And the Army and Marines do armored cavalry maneuver training here. (Camp Bullis)

I have Full Metal Panic up next, followed by Nanoha.

How tense do you think shit is about to get here?

[robkelk]

I think I speak for everyone in my building when I say we're happy we're half a continent away from San Antonio.

[Black Aeronaut]

We don't do things by halves down here in Texas.

[Rajvik]

Just tell Wash-chan to give a gateway to those of us in Pensacola and we'll come join in the fun.

[robkelk]

We don't do things by halves down here in Texas.  

So, half a continent isn't far enough away?

[robkelk]

Just tell Wash-chan to give a gateway to those of us in Pensacola and we'll come join in the fun.

"Wash-chan"? I thought Wash could just fly the Serenity there, no portal required.

[robkelk]

Just to mention...

Rin and Usagi chanted a ritual that Rob recognized as being similar to a ritual Catholic blessing but with some important differences. He was surprised to hear it in English. "Bless this home, that it be the shelter of health, purity, and self-control; that it keep those who live here safe and secure; that there prevail here a spirit of camaraderie, goodness, compassion, friendship, and love. May this blessing remain on this place and on those who live here now and always."

Making sure the wording of that blessing/spell was just right took longer than writing the rest of the scene put together.

And, yes, it is loosely based on a real-world Catholic blessing of a secular apartment or building, with the religious parts removed and a few other parts added.

[Bob Schroeck]

"I'm not sure. But she's the Goddess of the Future, so she had to be have been foreshadowing something," replied Rob as he half-consciously adjusted the lampshade on one of the room's lights.

Bad Rob! No biscuit! <grin>

[Black Aeronaut]

"I'm not sure. But she's the Goddess of the Future, so she had to be have been foreshadowing something," replied Rob as he half-consciously adjusted the lampshade on one of the room's lights.

Bad Rob!  No biscuit!  <grin>

Pffft.  Taking lampshading to the level of breaking the fourth wall?  Nice.

[Black Aeronaut]

Just tell Wash-chan to give a gateway to those of us in Pensacola and we'll come join in the fun.

"Wash-chan"? I thought Wash could just fly the Serenity there, no portal required.

That's awfully tempting, actually.  Because now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure the Arbalest can fit into the Serenity's cargo hold with a minimum amount of fuss.  It just has to be very empty in there.

Although the other two M9's that are typically Kurtz's and Mao's units...  Either they'll have to get left behind, or else the Serenity can come in without her shuttles and either one can just sit in those nooks and hang on for dear life.

As for Nanoha and Fate...

"MASTER.  INCOMING TRANSMISSION - UNUSUAL THAUMIC FREQUENCY, BUT DIRECTED TO MY MASTER."

"Okay, go ahead and put it on."

"ARE YOU TWO STUPID OR SOMETHING!?  THAT'S A MILITARY AIRFIELD DOWN THERE IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED!  ONE WITH ACTUAL F-16's ON THE APRON!  GET THE HELL DOWN FROM THERE BEFORE THEY SHOOT YOU DOWN!"

"But their radar-"

"IS FAR BETTER THAN YOU GIVE IT CREDIT FOR, AND YOU'RE STILL VISIBLE ON INFRARED!!!"

"MASTER - HE IS CORRECT.  I CANNOT HIDE HEAT SIGNATURES.  I DETECT NUMEROUS PASSIVE IR WARHEADS."

"Passive IR Warheads?"

"HIGH FRAGMENTATION WARHEAD WITH PASSIVE INFRARED HOMING SYSTEM AND PROXIMITY TRIGGER."

"....Uh-oh..."

Such is the crux of stealth technology - you can reduce your radar cross-section all you like, but try as you might, you're still gonna look like a hot potato fresh from the oven to an IR sensor.  Which is part of why the venerable AIM-9 Sidewinder is a mainstay of the US Armed Forces.

Did you know that they intentionally designed that missile so it'd be easy to upgrade?  This is part of why it's been in service for more than 50 years...  and 50 years is a helluva lotta time for refinements.  And let's not forget John Gall's Law: "A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system."

This absolutely applies to the Sidewinder.  Nanoha is in serious trouble.

[robkelk]

Just tell Wash-chan to give a gateway to those of us in Pensacola and we'll come join in the fun.

"Wash-chan"? I thought Wash could just fly the Serenity there, no portal required.

That's awfully tempting, actually.  Because now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure the Arbalest can fit into the Serenity's cargo hold with a minimum amount of fuss.  It just has to be very empty in there.

Although the other two M9's that are typically Kurtz's and Mao's units...  Either they'll have to get left behind, or else the Serenity can come in without her shuttles and either one can just sit in those nooks and hang on for dear life.

Is the Serenity's hold really that small? I would have thought you could squeeze at least two Armslaves in there if they're kneeling (the way they are while in storage aboard the TDD), maybe three if they're tightly packed.

Which would be damned uncomfortable for the AS's pilots if they have to remain aboard their mecha while in transport, of course.

As for Nanoha and Fate...

"MASTER.  INCOMING TRANSMISSION - UNUSUAL THAUMIC FREQUENCY, BUT DIRECTED TO MY MASTER."

"Okay, go ahead and put it on."

"ARE YOU TWO STUPID OR SOMETHING!?  THAT'S A MILITARY AIRFIELD DOWN THERE IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED!  ONE WITH ACTUAL F-16's ON THE APRON!  GET THE HELL DOWN FROM THERE BEFORE THEY SHOOT YOU DOWN!"

"But their radar-"

"IS FAR BETTER THAN YOU GIVE IT CREDIT FOR, AND YOU'RE STILL VISIBLE ON INFRARED!!!"

"MASTER - HE IS CORRECT.  I CANNOT HIDE HEAT SIGNATURES.  I DETECT NUMEROUS PASSIVE IR WARHEADS."

"Passive IR Warheads?"

"HIGH FRAGMENTATION WARHEAD WITH PASSIVE INFRARED HOMING SYSTEM AND PROXIMITY TRIGGER."

"....Uh-oh..."

Such is the crux of stealth technology - you can reduce your radar cross-section all you like, but try as you might, you're still gonna look like a hot potato fresh from the oven to an IR sensor.  Which is part of why the venerable AIM-9 Sidewinder is a mainstay of the US Armed Forces.

Did you know that they intentionally designed that missile so it'd be easy to upgrade?  This is part of why it's been in service for more than 50 years...  and 50 years is a helluva lotta time for refinements.  And let's not forget John Gall's Law: "A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over, beginning with a working simple system."

This absolutely applies to the Sidewinder.  Nanoha is in serious trouble.

Ouchie.

Did Raising Heart get an upgrade there? She usually speaks with... idiosyncratic... vocabulary choices.

[Dartz]

Those things are tuned to reject flares and the like....

Problem is they tuned them on US flares which have high manufacturing standards and burn consistently at the same colour temperature and not Russian flares which don't....

A body temperature of 37 degrees would probably be rejected by the missile.

[robkelk]

"I'm not sure. But she's the Goddess of the Future, so she had to be have been foreshadowing something," replied Rob as he half-consciously adjusted the lampshade on one of the room's lights.

Bad Rob!  No biscuit!  <grin>

Pffft.  Taking lampshading to the level of breaking the fourth wall?  Nice.

What, is nobody else here a fan of The Order of the Stick?

[Rajvik]

Just tell Wash-chan to give a gateway to those of us in Pensacola and we'll come join in the fun.

"Wash-chan"? I thought Wash could just fly the Serenity there, no portal required.

Auto-corrupt on the damn tablet that I am using most of the time. Also, I didn't think of that because Mal and them are here and I thought we weren't bringing in equipment until much later

[Black Aeronaut]

Those things are tuned to reject flares and the like....

Problem is they tuned them on US flares which have high manufacturing standards and burn consistently at the same colour temperature and not Russian flares which don't....

A body temperature of 37 degrees would probably be rejected by the missile.

Maybe, but I would be thinking more about the magical energies being outputted by their Devices.  Afterall, heat is one of the most common forms of waste energy in any kind of machine.  We even see it in-setting - whenever Nanoha fires off something REALLY BIG, Raising Heart will always vent a huge amount of vapor afterwards - what this vapor is exactly, I don't know, but I do know that vapor is one of the most effective ways of bleeding off heat energy in an almighty hurry.

So, the question now is this: how much heat should they be generating during 'normal operation' and how is it being dispersed?

[Labster]

I'm trying to imagine the local news ever covering a magnitude 2 earthquake.  That's kind of a "Dog Bites Man" story, because no one can actually feel it unless they're on the same city block, and there's no damage possible.  There's an interesting earthquake energy calculator.  Note that the relevant energy thing is the "Radiated Energy" column, because something happening on the Earth's surface isn't actually going to put energy into permanently moving rock, so it's all basically sound.

Hydrogen gas and helium have a higher specific heat than water, so I guess Raising Heart could be venting that if it really needs to lose heat.  As if it wasn't dangerous enough, add liquid hydrogen.

What, is nobody else here a fan of The Order of the Stick?

Actually it reminded me of Haiyore! Nyaruko-san.  It has lines like "The foreshadowing was too hard this time!" and "Oh, I thought the foreshadowing was going to be the vacuum cleaner this time."

[robkelk]

It's a Sunday morning, and the announcement fills a half-minute of airtime. Why not mention it?

[robkelk]

(And if I get any urges to add more "friendly" characters to my corner of this, please whack me over the head with a paper fan. More foes are good; more people who I'll need to write on an ongoing basis are bad.)

Somebody get that paper fan ready, because I really want to add this to the story. Alas, it never got past the planning stange, so I think it's off-limits because it was never published... but there's enough information presented that we can tell how the first two books would have gone.

Lois Lane, Girl Reporter - "girl" because she's 11 and reporting for the school newspaper. (Clark Kent is 12, Bruce Wayne is 13, Lex Luthor is 18, and nobody wears a cape.)

[robkelk]

And it's done.

A comment I made to Brent in an email inspired me on how to cut a few scenes out altogether and bring in a couple of "lost" women. So I did.

The plot threads left dangling were done so on purpose. I can't kill off the Host in their first appearance, after all - there's be nobody left to threaten Usagi in the next story.

No, I didn't make up the coffee shop in Kemptville.

EDIT: I'm not going to say "Next up is There's Nothing Better A's", but only because I want to confirm a few things with Black Aeronaut - most importantly, whether he wants to write it.

[Rajvik]

Alright, stupid question, mostly to keep the character bloat within reason, is there any chance of encouraging Urd to come try out Pensacola beach?

[Labster]

I'd imagine the answer to that question is the same as this one: Is there alcohol in Pensacola?

[Black Aeronaut]

Kek. What Labster said. I can't see any reason why she wouldn't visit. Just make it plot relevant and there you go.

Rob, I've decided that I'll go ahead and do it. Just need some time to get things settled on my end - mainly getting a few more main-line story bits into play. Don't wanna skip too far ahead, you know.

[robkelk]

It's yours. You already called dibs on Nanoha and Fate, after all.

Now I have to come up with something else to frame the return of the Misaka Sisters and Accelerator to the Ottawa area, though. (Although, considering how far in advance of everyone else I am, that can wait.)