Thanks Darkaos.

Having some opinion on it does help a lot...

I like how it is moving. Present, past, back to present. There is a lot of detail. I do hope the hero saves his partner....somehow but it doesn't look like it is going to happen. I can't wait to see how it all plays out. I am ready for more :)

I know how you feel ksb, the chat window is so small, never thought of trying to expand it , so it flies. Not enough channels, so you cant clear out the selling and stuff. I sometimes dont know what i got when i open a slicing box, and during/after combat, forget about seeing anything. SWTOR's chat system makes me appreciate STO's so much. i try to say hi when i see people come in, but usualy i dont even see that until well after the fact. I have lost the habit of watching the chat in this game. STO spoiled me with custom user made channels, easy removal of channels, custom choice colors for channels and such.

As for vent currently i get no input, so i have not been using it.

To add to all that, this game is nothing but combad and every hit is shown in chat, if you say hi and i dont respond trust me its because i never saw it. I love this game, but ITS CHAT SYSTEM SUCKS.


Ok rant over, i will try to shout out sometime this evening after 5:30 eastern time.

what are your thoughts on how the story line is going so far?

I am quite excited about this game coming out myself!

Chapter XII: Defensive Posture

The smell of Qo'nos had grown more ripened as Semil stepped out the decrepit entrance portico of the General's compound into the lightening jungle.

Having waited until daybreak, he had wandered down the unlit corridors of the building for more than an hour. The top level had been the only one with signs of life. The rest of the halls on the lower levels had clearly been unoccupied for quite some time, in clear disrepair. Mildew stained every wall. Vines, creepers, and tree branches invaded the rooms and hallways, the jungle lazily but confidently working to reclaim the compound.

He had found a nest of some clearly disagreeable rodent species in what seemed to have been an armory. What few bladed weapons remained had rusted over and dulled. He had picked out the least corroded bat'leth, and a tattered, mildewy shoulder holster in order to sling it behind his back.

He had found no other occupants of the compound. Once upon a time, it must haveve been one of the Great Houses. The labyrinth of corridors and numerous levels clearly indicated it had been a House of power, wealth, and influence; moreover, that it had clearly fallen into disfavor somewhere amidst the innumerable regime changes of the Empire.

An enormous, noisy wasp buzzed past his head and back into the endless expanse of flora and greenery. Semil had managed to keep track of his turns, and the direction of the First City in his memory. He reached for the bat'leth, turned the other direction, and began hacking his way through the thick undergrowth.



Semil had lost track of time somewhere after the first hour. The temperature had rapidly climbed to a thorough swelter, and determining the position of the sun was near impossible through the dense canopy. His exposed arms had been bitten raw by all manner of creatures.

Despite the strength in his arms, he welcomed any clearing in the undergrowth he came across, and approached another one. In his peripheral vision, he could make out some sort of carcass - the faint remains of some sort of furred quadruped creature was all he could make out through the writhing wriggle of scavenging insects and haze of flies that buzzed about.

Having made it to the far side of the clearing, he thought it an opportune time to rest momentarily.

Semil reached into the small hip pouch he had hastily prepared himself from what he could find in the General's pantry for a canteen, and drank from it.

He had decided upon his escape from the General's compound with no conscious rationale, no plan other than to set out into the jungle and as far away from the General and K'vot as he could get. Returning to the Gamma Quadrant, to the Dominion and the Founders had been the furthest thing from his mind - as if they would even have him.

He'd already known for some time he had no termination implant. It had made sense to at least attempt some measure of escape to anywhere, or at least die trying. Pity no future Semil clones could at least benefit from his miserable ordeal, if only as a cautionary tale.

Semil gasped for, releasing his lips from the mouth of the canteen, having drunk more than he had intended to ration.

From behind him, he could hear the rustle of leaves signifying something attempting to stealthily approach. Noiselessly replacing the canteen into the hip pouch, he slowly reached his hand back to the handle of the bat'leth.

Pivoting to face the threat and drawing the bat'leth in a single fluid motion, he had to crane his neck upward to make out the towering, spindly creature, which had reared up on hindlegs and let out a threatened growl. It was furred, and sported long, razor thin claws. Semil recognized it from his briefing files as a Kolar beast, and a distempered one at that.

Semil drew his bat'leth into a defensive posture, prepared to deflect the creature's swipes, and began slowly pacing in a semicircle around it, trying to spot some tactical advantage in the terrain and environment in his peripheral vision. The creature let out another growl, this time louder and more noticeably annoyed. It punctuated its gesture with a snap of its toothless jaws; supposedly strong enough to break bone with minimal effort.

It had become apparent to Semil that the carcass he had seen earlier should have been a sign of a predator's territory. He would find time to castigate himself later, perhaps last thoughts as the creature disemboweled him.

Just then, the creature took a few test swipes at the Vorta. Nothing in earnest, only looking for weaknesses or cowardice or perhaps even surrender in the strange pale hairless interloper. Semil recognized these, and was prepared for the pounce of the creature - as it sprung forward at him with surprising force. He had managed to leverage the bat'leth up to deflect the sheer momentum of the attack to the side, only managing to nick the creature's substantial bulk mildly in doing so.

it was clearly enough to irritate the creature even further, as it slinked away suspiciously, circling back in preparation for another pass. Semil intuitied that the creature would eventually win in a match of stamina, ultimately expending more energy to keep deflecting the creature than it would to keep attacking.

As the creature wound up its rear legs, Semil grew decisive, adjusted his grip on the bat'leth, and squatted slightly in order to prepare his own counter.

From only a few meters, the Kolar beast sprang forward at him again, this time with a far less vocal, more efficient growl.

Semil reacted almost instantly, spring himself forward to meet the creature, trying to lead the creature's trajectory across the forest clearing with the pointed end of the bat'leth, supported by as much of his momentum and the strength of his legs as he could.

There was a satisfying crunch from the bat'leth as it met its target, followed instantly by a piercing howl. Semil had little time to delight, before realizing the creature's weight was substantially greater than he had prepared himself for.

Unable to steady himself, Semil had just enough time to twist the bat'leth to his side to avoid the other pointed end before the creature's great heft crashed into him. At least he wasn't going to die impaled on his own bat'leth. However, he soon found himself lying beneath the great mass of fur and muscle and bone, pinned and unable to breath.

He had just noticed the creature's claws had managed to gash three deep parallel wounds into his thigh.

The creature's own breathing had started to slow and relax, as the jungle around him grew quieter. Just before he blacked out, Semil could just make out the light rustle of individual leaves as they fell to the forest floor.

I know I'd appreciate downtime rp for two weeks.

I'm glad Time put this on their cover! The people that have a problem with this need to question why they feel the way they do in light of the change in public perception regarding gay marriage.

Well it's downtime. I can do downtime nights two weeks in a row if people are worried about missing it? That might not be a bad idea anyway. I have to help run a week of draggy charity events that will only conclude the afternoon of Sunday the 14th, so not having to invent a plot in the middle of that would be lovely.

Edit: You're welcome to listen in before joining! I encourage people who are on the fence to join the SFRoleplay channel during an event, in fact.

I'd like to observe one time and see how it is then perhaps join in if that would be alright.

This is intentionally pushing the envelope to gin up controversy, thus sales and page views. The black barriers in grocery stores are an intentional outcome that will lead to news coverage.

I, for one, don't really mind. It might start a conversation. It's not going to offend anyone whose opinion I particularly care about.

This coming Sunday is Easter...FYI! :)

Since there didn't seem to be any problems last week, I'm switching us to Sunday for the foreseeable future. Just making sure everyone knows!

I have no opinion of the game, but I thought the commercial was fun! :silly:

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I think it should have "Stonewall" In English, and then "Empire" in Romulan. That way other players who don't speak Romulan, like me, will know the guild!

:)

I for one love this cover.
My mother saw it and instantly showed me.
She said, "I saw then I instantly saw you on your wedding day!"

She and I haven been listening to The Supreme Court on CSPAN.

I think it is a step forward.
It puts the image right out there into peoples faces, and it's not as though its pornography!
Besides, As Rasilek said regarding a same sex couple with children, those images have been out before.
For example, JCPenny had an image of two women with a child in their store.
Someone complained about it, and their response was to put up a picture of two men and their child.

So all in all, the important thing is that we are moving forward. This Times Magazine Cover, is just another helpful step. At least I think so, ya know?

Thanks for the discussion, guys. :) I'd say it's a pretty bold cover for a mainstream news magazine any way you look at it. Damn stigma.

And, you can't argue the headline as it bears truth.

But for the more conservative folk, this isn't exactly the image i would have in mind to have a discussion, well it is and it isn't. Nonethless, this week these covers are on every major newsstand in the country.

While i get that not everyone wants kids (i have no plans, personally), it still leaves me uneasy and for them to go this route, but hell, it's a dose of reality and it just might work.

I'll keep the faith on this one. After all, the close of the DOMA hearings still left the bill's supporters without really having much to work with to uphold constitutionality, and there are a lot of other people out there on our side.

Best,
Steve.

I'd be up for it but of late everytime I'm in tor I feel excluded regardless how many people are on... I'm not comfortable with vent, I'm sure several others are and it feels like in game chat is so often ignored and chat between members is exclusivly vent... Not really good for inspiring those like myself who aren't vent users to be to helpful.

I'm guessing that there are going to be the black plastic flip dealies in front of the magazines at some newsstands, like the ones they put up when the Cosmo model shows too much skin and suchlike.

I think I get that their intention was to say something like: "If this disgusts you then that's your defect not theirs." But it's definitely not going to be taken that way by those who oppose oppose same sex marriage. It's not what I would have chosen, a picture of a family with same sex parents or even a couple standing at the altar would have been the way I'd have gone.