(no subject)

[bedlamsbard]

Space: Above and Beyond makes me want to write fic, which I am going to nobly restrain myself from doing until I finish watching the series (only one season, wah).

Also, I so totally have my Washington state driver's license. Go me!

Comments

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

I know. Now I'm on, "Okay, and exactly why is the Rokasa Empire sending a ship to Earth? I know they're not attacking, and I don't think they care enough about Earth to warn them about the Big Bad, so why the hell are they here, except to make McAuliffe's life interesting? Oh, okay, something to do with Sherman and his band of idiots."

DON'T REMIND ME. I'm still mad that my AP English test is on the same day as my cousin's graduation, so I don't get to go to Pennsylvania and look at colleges (three of which on my potential list are in Penn).

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

Aren't they interested in getting Berin back? Although, is that enough of a cause for them to send an entire ship to Earth? And maybe to sorta say "Oh, by the way, yeah, Big Bad out there, now can we have our guy back"?

Ah that sucks... missing the graduation, and the chance to look at schools. Can you fly out over the summer to look at schools?

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Sure. But they wouldn't be quite so obvious about it. Plus, the guy they sent is a Vira naval captain (navy=flies big spaceships) who kicked the U.S.'s butt, so that's...not exactly the most diplomatic way to go about it. I think it might be that they are warning the U.S. about the Big Bad, but I can't think of why the Empire would do so. (There is no Confederacy, not anymore.) Sherman and the New York are still out there, but...*dubious*

And Berin's such a loose cannon anyway that the Empire might even be glad he's gone. (Also, Ke'ane is not aboard the ship they sent to Earth.)

I'm at Brown University this summer, and I'll be doing some looking at schools while I'm there, through the summer program I'm going to. Otherwise, I can't afford to fly out, although if I get accepted to a bunch of schools I'll probably be able to check 'em out then to narrow down the choices.

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

Maybe as a vague sort of courtesy. Like, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but we don't like you much either, but fuck if we really wanna see your billions of people wiped out just because your government is full of asshats"?

Ooh, so where is Ke'ane, and why is he NOT doing whatever he can to get Berin back?

You can always check out the LJ communities for the schools... most schools have one, and the people on them will totally tell you EXACTLY what the school is like, and tend to be very truthful in answering any questions you have. Better than a brochure from the school, which is full of propaganda.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Ooh, there's something. I was thinking it was something one of the higher-ups in the Imperial government wanted to do, and the Vira are not happy about it. Sending Muurien was a bad choice, too. As Drew says, "Oh, that bastard. He crippled the Massachusetts, grounded her on Heriot for two years and put a blockade around the planet." Before that, he chased the Massachusetts through an asteroid field. After that, he shot at McAuliffe's satellite.

Okay, so all the Vira have mental problems.

Ke'ane's either on the Outer Rim somewhere, or he's still with the New York. Haven't decided which one yet.

Ooh, good idea, hadn't thought about that.

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

So, this Muurien guy? Probably not Drew's favorite? :D

I love the Vira. Most awesomely messed-up people EVER.

And I miss Ke'ane and Berin. Especially Berin and his utter insanity.

I love the LJ communities. I'm on my university's, and it's such a great resource...

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Well, at least he didn't ground the North Carolina. Then Drew would have been really mad. As it is, he doesn't win the title of "Worst Enemy EVER", but he's still in the running.

Even better: he and Drew spend the first five minutes or so of their reunion insulting each other's planets. Muurien has a point when he calls Earth a tiny backwater planet, because it is.

Yeah, I have no idea what to do with them now that they've been created. And I need an excuse for the U.S. to ship out Spaceforce again. *sigh* This plot thing. It's hard. *nods firmly*

I'll have to look into that.

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

Drew snark, yaye! Please tell me this reunion happens in front of Drew's superiors, because that'd be hilarious, the two of them going at it with insults while Drew's superiors are watching.

Wouldn't the Big Bad be sufficient enough reason to send Spaceforce back out?

Plot sucks. Well, plot doesn't suck, writing plot does.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

It happens in front of Drew's CO, but unfortunately they're insulting each other in Rokasan Standard, which General O'Neill doesn't speak. McAuliffe's there, though, and she understands. The Vira have no respect for authority at all. *shakes head*

Maybe. If the government believes that they're really out there, and that they pose a threat to Earth. I think it'll probably be a combination of the Big Bad and going after the New York, because Muurien's going to let that little secret spell. If Sherman makes it back to Earth alive, he is so screwed, because the President would really like someone to blame and he can't blame the first Rokasan mission.

YES. YES IT DOES.

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

Haha, nice, Muurien. I can see that going over well with O'Neill. What exactly is Sherman up to out in Space? Just being Sherman and fighting the Big Bad?

I need to go re-read the original Spaceforce 'verse works.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Being a big nuisance and doing the vigilante thing, since he refuses to ally with the Empire and he's disgusted the Confederacy gave up, so he and his men are basically being space guerillas against the Big Bad.

I'll post the new ones when I finish this scene. I'm just trying to decide whether or not I should have Drew and McAuliffe go out drinking in dress uniform, and if they're in Texas or Colorado. (I'm also very tempted to write the scene where they go to McAuliffe's high school reunion and she and Drew beat up a school shooter who's twenty years too late.)

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's basically what I figured Sherman would be doing. Good for him. Would he be tentative allies with the Empire, though, since they are fighting the same enemy? Or is it just total refusal to ally with them at all?

Looking forward to it!

If you have questions about random Texas geography, lemme know, because ugh, if there's one thing they brainwashed taught us in school, it's All Things Texas.

Hee, the McAuliffe and Drew high school thing would be funny.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Drew's a stubborn bastard. He will not ally with the Empire. He won't even ally with the ex-Confederate planets because he thinks they gave up. He's got connections, but not with the government. With the criminals.

Okay, what are the Air Force bases in Texas? And are they near a vast amount of empty space that could conveniently house a couple of spaceships? (My Pacific Northwest History class sucked, so all I can tell you about Washington is that when I got in a friendly argument with a couple of friends at Stanford about whose state was better, Washington totally kicked Texas's butt. Cali, Idaho, and Virginia weren't even in the running.)

Especially since they show up in dress uniform, and everyone's like, "Shelton. You joined the military?" (She went to a high school for gifted children.)

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

Drew's a stubborn bastard.

You mean Sherman? Well, Drew too, maybe? *blinks*

Um, honestly, I don't know. *looks it up* There's one in the south-east corner of San Antonio.. Brooks AFB. Which, yeah, big city, but it's on the far corner of the city, so it could probably go out into the boonies. The thing about Texas? There are lots of big cities, but they're surrounded by TOTAL EMPTINESS for miles and miles until you hit another big city. Then there's one in Abeline (which is in the panhandle), called Dyess, and that one definitely looks to be closer to the boonies. It's also frakking HUGE (6000 + acres).

There are a few others. One in Ft Worth, which would be too close to a big city for you (this is, I think, the one that deployed planes when the Columbia exploded over us a few years ago). Um, one in San Angelo, which is... not very big, and also very close to a city.

I think Dyess is your best bet. That or Laughlin, which is really close to the Mexican border.

Huh. There are a LOT of AFBs near San Antonio. I wonder why?

Is the Rokassa mission confidential? Or do people, like, know that all of this happened?

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* Sherman. It's Sherman. Drew's no less stubborn, but he's slightly more flexible.

I don't ask the easy questions. Thank you! I was figuring Texas was better than Colorado because it's closer to NASA, and Spaceforce was originally a part of NASA.

That's one of the things I've been trying to figure out. I'm almost certain it's not, but it's -- sort of -- like Iraq (not a political statement, not a political statement!). After the first few years, it got really, really controversial, and the President got elected on a platform of calling the troops back. When they didn't come, it was quickly hushed up. So, three years after that, it's common knowledge, but it most of it is classified. It's also become largely a non-issue, I think.

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

But how much of the Rokassa mission is classified? Like, going back to Iraq (ditto on the not a political statement...!), we don't know all the details that are going on there. Lots of battles are happening and people are dying, and we only know the very basics.

I love the NASA in Houston, but the one in Tittusville, Florida is definitely better. I wanted to go into astrophysics for the longest time, so I used to spend all of my time looking stuff up about all-things-NASA.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Everything except the very barest of facts. I'm going back a decade or so and trying to figure out how America got involved in the war in the first place, and my very sketchy outline at the moment involves an economic connection between the Confederate planets and the U.S. -- technology for something (probably not yet soldiers). Later, America officially entered the war on the side of the Confederacy. At this point in time, what had been released to the press was that America had made contact with an alien species, our allies, who were under attack by a much greater alien species -- which always leads to propaganda on someone's part for America to go help. When troops were sent, that was in the press too, but I'm pretty sure there weren't any reporters sent to Rokasa.

So, going back to your initial question, nearly everything except "We went to help our allies, soldiers died, the new president tried to pull our troops out but the wormhole failed and we were unable to make contact with Rokasa for three years." Yeah, the White House totally lied to the American people.

I know next to nothing about NASA except "spaceships. Oh yeah, and that astronaut who was just arrested for stalking and kidnapping."

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

So if McAuliffe shows up to her high school reunion in her dress blues (blues? reds? red, right?), and says she's a member of Spaceforce, everyone will be like "Ooh, you fought aliens!"?

I heart NASA. Lotsa big shinies. Also, I have a curse with them, since both the Challenger and the Columbia blew up over my head (one in Florida, and the other over Dallas). I'm just waiting for it to happen over Ottawa.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

Well, she went to a high school for geniuses, so it'll be more like, "You?! In the field? No." And, "What, Shelton, you joined the military?" It's much more impressive once she nearly shoots someone.

...I could have one of the Spaceforce/Imperial/Big Bad ships blow up over Ottawa. If they ever get to Earth.

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

That would be tragic and awesome. Poor Canadians, they only have, like, one tank and a handful of old airplanes. They wouldn't know how to respond to something like that...



(OMG JOKE, any Canadians who are reading this. Really. Well, mostly...)

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*snort*

Typical American superiority complex. Yay us! Or should it be, Yay US!?

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

*dies*

LAME. And yet awesome.

But it's kinda true. Even Canadians make fun of their own military. But they still like to hold it over the Americans that they burned our White House down in 1812.

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

*waves hand* Bah, Canada. America won the War of 1812 (and a pointless war it was, too. Didn't accomplish anything).

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

My (Canadian) friend said "Eh?" in response to this when I showed it to her. Oh, Canadians, such a silly peoples.

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

Also: http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0198/major.htm is a list of major AFBs.