[Open][TMoMC] So. That just happened.....

[Black Aeronaut]

In: Private Messages ? Inbox
From: BlackRider (Needs No Introduction; confirmed ID)
Date: April 23, 2025

Millenium rules apply. I'm only telling people in private for the time being. Those who need to know. The last thing I want to do is make Mackie feel pressured in anyway - because that's always going to breed resentment. 

I think if he found out tomorrow it was impossible to be resleeved, He wouldn't be happy, but he could deal with it. He's not the first to go through it. He's not the last. He spent a few days on the Forge not too long ago, and, that seemed to settle him at least. 
I think he's more afraid of what people will think, than what he wants. There's a lot he likes about the Gaige identity - none of it related to the body. There's a lot he likes about himself. Part of him's amused at the idea of carrying the pendant after resleeving - just to beg the question. Part of him's terrified that people will just point and say 'I told you so'. 
It's his choice. Whatever he wants to do. The last thing I want is for him to make the decision based on what he thinks someone else's opinion will be. I don't think he'd be unhappy if he joined. I don't think he'd be unhappy if he took your offer either. The only thing I'm certain of, is he's going to do something to prove it's what he wanted - and not just giving in to cowardice, or Ranma's law. 

Agreed.  This is gonna be a delicate balancing act with presenting him option while not making him feel pressured.
.....I don't think we've been on eggshells this badly since you guys woke up Shinji.

I'm torn between wanting the body back, and wanting an excuse to get a new one that looks more like the woman I used to be. Still with the same great features, of course...... the wave might've taken the ability, but it still left the desire ;P

Snrk.  That's a whole different kettle of fish there, buddy.  But if you want my advice, I'd go ahead and splurge a bit.  You guys all sure as hell earned it by catching that fucker along with his all seeing eye guy.

I think maybe we're focusing on being unassailable from the wrong direction - that's what I'm saying. We're ready to fight the last war. Thats a dangerously overconfident place to be in. It's a thought best left to swim in the think-tanks maybe, something for another day and a more serious place. But I hope to whatever god'll listen that it never comes. 
Hope for the best. Build for the worst.

Well, I will say that I've got a few things stewing away on a back burner.  Just some designs that would otherwise need waaaaayyyy too much lead-time to get going if the shit ever did hit the fan.  Things we can slap together with off-the-shelf-parts, and things with some interesting advancements.  The nice thing about having BAT is that I can afford to do R&D into theoretical shit that goes beyond the bleeding edge.  The best part is that these investments yield returns as I incorporate them in the next production runs and upgrades.  I'm also building a store of parts and components for a next generation Gunstar and TIE-Series.

That's the nifty loophole in the PEPPER accords.  You can have as many 'spare parts' as you like.  They're more concerned with functional and operational armaments.

And then I've got a bunch of stuff in the secure data vault - the one that Ruri and Gina have been sitting on like mother dragons on their clutches.  And with good reason, too.  If any of the others saw what I have in there, they'd probably try and force me to step down without realizing that there's a world of difference between having ideas and contingencies in store, and actually acting on them.

And I know very well what overconfidence can do.  I'm always looking at this like I'm the one who's going to be the underdog - in the worst case scenario where the bureaucrats have their way and the Roughriders are all but neutered and THEN the shit hits the fan?  Yeah.  'Nuff said.

I'll fight the bureaucrats, but not so hard that they can fool everyone else into thinking that I'm a danger to society at large.  And while I'll make concessions to them, I'm going to try to at least keep things such that we won't need much time at all to switch to a war footing if there's ever call for it.  As you've seen, I'm pretty much used to people thinking I'm the bad guy anyhow despite me not even having a passing resemblance to Handsome Jack.  :p

A few were interested up until Arcadia. I've been poking too. I'll spin up a a few messages first and see who bites. The more people involved, the better. 
Cross training breeds comradeship too.

Well said.  Keep me posted.  

The logistics will be hell. Making it fair will be hell. Making it safe enough will be a challenge. 
Especially without VR or any sort of holographic support. Just the knowledge that you will mwake up tomorrow with aches and bruises (Let alone being actually injured) makes people behave so much more cautiously than in VR - a lot more naturally. VR combat training breeds so many bad habits. 
And a little inter-faction combat competition might give us the little avelanches we need to keep the big one from happening. 
Alita's enthusiastic about the chance to test her mettle against Fenspace finest. I think she'll win it too. The wave's with her on it.

I dunno.  I think we should keep the danger level on the high-end... And blatantly advertise that aspect of it.  If we intentionally nerf the ZOT the 'Wave might rebel against us.

Besides, there's plenty of us that can get on Alita's level.  AC Peters comes to mind...

Also keep in mind that Alita, in her native canon, has been humbled by the odd defeat or two in her past.  She may not have always been happy about them (I think the only one she ever accepted with a smile on her face was at the hands of elite motorballer, Jashugan), but she's always taken them in stride as learning moments.

That said, though...  I can't wait to see what she pulls if the ZOT ever does become a thing.  

Remind Gina to bring her bathing suit. She was cursing herself for missing out on the hot springs last time. We've only just gotten them warmed up again.

I'll do that.  Just keep in mind what kind of distraction she can be.  While she's not the busty-buxom type that I know Mackie prefers, I've caught him eyeing Gina a few times when he thought no one was watching him.  

And I really need to get another puppet with skin. Cosmopolish only goes so far.

O_o;;;

Benjamin RhodesCinC RoughridersWe break things so you don't have to!

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Meta:
- The data cache that Ben is referring to is a heavily encrypted Handwavium-enhanced storage server (with emergency air-gap protection) that has all kinds of plans, contingencies, and strategies regarding all kinds of horrible worst-case scenarios, including if, for whatever reason, one of the SMOFs went bad for some reason.  He's very much like Batman in that regard.  :p
- Said data cache also has a partition that Ben does not have access to.  This is Gina's alone, just in case Ben goes bad for some reason.  This was actually Ben's idea because he's not willing to rule out the possibility of himself losing his goram mind for whatever reason and Gina has been instructed to never tell him about anything she has in there.
- There are also designs for warships and even a few 'super weapons' that would have PEPPER bureaucrats howling for his blood.  Because I believe in Burt Gummer's maxim: "When you need it, and don't have it, you sing a whole 'nother tune."