So, I couldn't resist posting this here:
I 3D printed this guy at the original scale that Sabertooth Collectibles sold it as, made another and sent it to Regal Rebel, but then I got to thinking and well...
Lol.
I added fur and here he is. Nice learning project for fur and airbrushing. Special thanks to Uncle Jessy and M.M. Props Shop for the encouragement.
I've got enough fur to do 1-2 more projects. Debating on which. Mom asked me to make an ewok. lol. I was leaning towards Snarf.
Sitrep: So, Rea has sent me back J10. I hope she has fun in Irvine at the track meet. :)
On to the snippet!
Antigua
“I love my job,” Willow said as she took the stairs to her boss’s office. She had short legs so the steps were slightly uncomfortable for her dwarven physique. She made it work, however.
Newly promoted Chief Warrant Officer 1 Mariah Willow was the lead armorer of the Cadre. Well, most of the time. Whenever that Tauren Ox showed up, everyone including herself deferred to him. That was fully understandable and she supported it. Ox had been the original armorer after all.
She had been the mastermind behind the Cadre 2.0 program. She was still working on improvements for it. She had a small design team that was also working on alternative ideas for the suits to use in combat.
One of the greatest strengths of the Cadre 2.0 program was that they could innovate new designs and send them via ansible to units in the field to implement. Field units could then generate the changes with their AI and nanites. Major changes could be altered permanently into the hardware or “baked.” Minor changes could be stored for later use. Alterations for mission specific scenarios could be stored in modules for on-call use. But of course they all needed to be tested first.
The same was actually happening in reverse; deployed Cadre units were sending feedback and adjustments back via the ansible to the armor, nanite, and software research and development teams. They then went through the data and changes and built virtual and then physical test models to see what worked and if they could refine it further.
A lot of the data coming in were rough and ready bug patches to address a specific problem. Usually it was mission related, such as in smoke or to deal with other environmental factors. The team was particularly looking forward to the heaps of data that would come in from the Cadre deployment within the pirate battle moon.
Well, the data that survived to get to them at any rate, Willow mused with a slight grimace as she passed a set of robots.
That was another thing that had been innovated, the partnership with robots. The Cadre now had two robots assigned to each suit minimum. Some could handle up to six smaller robots. They were still working on the level of autonomy in the units.
She nodded to the two mastiff-sized robot dogs on either side of the door as she went in.
She waited patiently as the yeoman dealt with a call.
“He’s on a call,” Peggy informed her. She indicated a seat on the HUD. Willow grimaced and took the seat. The Yeoman looked up to her and then nodded and went back to the call. She was using a hush mike so Willow couldn’t quite hear it.
She briefly toyed with the idea of testing her aural implant improvements but decided to keep her nose short.
“You think he’ll really go for this?” Peggy asked.
“What’s with the pessimistic approach?” Willow asked. She was only slightly nervous. They had a good pitch; the idea had been used in science fiction media for centuries. It had even made it into a few suits at different time periods. Unfortunately, the specific data on their use and why they fell out of favor had been lost to the ravages of time.
Willow had come up through the army’s powered armor units. She’d heard stories about how they’d gotten the jump start on powered armor courtesy of then Lance Corporal Jethro McClintock.
Jethro had just graduated with the legendary F Platoon. He had heard that the corps was struggling to get into the hardware and had remembered his family’s cache of suits including his own ancestor’s suit.
He had dug them out, and they had been refurbished and copied. At the time, not many had known that his suit was a Cadre suit and that he had been the descendant of a legendary Cadre member.
She smiled slightly. Some of the details were still sketchy but she’d picked up a few more over beers when she’d chatted with Ox a few times. Like the fact that Bast had been awoken in the armor and had caused havoc in Agnosta before being tamed and eventually brought to full sentience by Admiral Irons and his AI.
They had used Jethro’s armor and Bast as a template for the formation of the Cadre some years ago. Admiral Irons had authorized them to continue to innovate and to incorporate the little data that they had gathered from the Lemnos facility.
When she had come on board, she had been determined to make the Cadre the best it could be. A step beyond what they were. So far the jury was still out on if they’d achieved that lofty goal. They’d find out more when word got back to them about the battle moon … if it ever did.
Hopefully, she thought.
The battle was a suicide mission some whispered. She didn’t believe that. The Cadre took insane tasks, impossible missions, and broke then down into something they could win when others would fail. They’d make it, she thought firmly.
When they did get word, they were going to be swamped she mused. They had servers ready to process what came in … when it came in.
Dribs and drabs, she thought as her strong hands flexed on her knees slightly.
Most likely the data from the battle moon would have to be sent in packets at various ansibles or by courier. The wait for the full data would be excruciating in some ways.
They weren’t sitting on their thumbs while they waited, however. They had a bunch of proposals to sort through as well as some concepts to pitch in sims and test. She had been increasingly enamored with the idea of transformation. The suits with their nanites and hardware were polymorphic. They could adapt to any scenario. She wanted to capitalize further on that concept.
One of the techs had mentioned a foldable motorcycle called the Corgi. Apparently, Abe had seen it in a museum and it had stuck in his mind and caused a bit of inspiration. During the AI research that Peggy had initiated, they had found references to mecha that could transform into vehicles for rapid transit. Something called Mospedea. She had become fascinated with the concept which brought her to her current pitch.
“Ma’am?” she looked up. The yeoman indicated the door. “The general will see you now.”
She nodded and got up. She paused at the door to knock twice. The open command allowed her to open the door and come in.
“I’ve got twenty minutes, Willow,” General Lyon said as she came in and took a seat that he indicated. “I scanned your brief.”
“Briefly scanned the brief,” Mars said from the holographic projector on the desk. Peggy joined him there.
“Bite me,” the general growled. He turned to the dwarf. “Back it up a bit though. Corgi? You were inspired, not by the dog but by …?”
“Corgi. A motorcycle, really a scooter that folded up. It was dropped by planes for paratroopers during the second World War,” the dwarf explained.
Peggy helpfully put an image up of the thing.
“Okay, and this attaches to the suit?”
“No, sir, it inspired the project. From there we went into Mospedea which really inspired it.”
“Okay …?”
Peggy put up a few images and a 3D model and then animations.
The general watched them thoughtfully.
“What we were thinking was add on components or a program where the AI can initiate a change to grow the components of a motorcycle.”
“Sounds … interesting.”
“Doesn’t it?”
Various videos were shown of mecha and robots transforming into motorcycles. “We can combine the idea with the robots too as seen here. Build on the modular ability I mentioned earlier.”
General Lyon nodded thoughtfully.
“And you think this is faster than running?” he asked.
“Yes, sir!” Peggy said excitedly. She highlighted the speedometer on one image and showed it bobbing and weaving through traffic.
“Definitely on roads. We are still experimenting with off-road and indoors.” Willow hesitated. “The general idea is fast reaction to a battlefield and shock value. Hard and fast.”
General Lyon blinked and then nodded slowly. That was the essence of shock attacks. They could backfire, however, he knew. He also didn’t like the idea of moving through civilian traffic but he was a pragmatist. He knew such things happened in reality from time to time. As much as they’d like to avoid civilians, they did tend to get underfoot and clutter up a battlefield.
“Okay, I’ll authorize a single test. Check it out.”
Willow nodded. She felt smug. That was easy as expected. “Thank you, sir.”
“Not so fast. Try before you buy.”
“Sir?”
“Try it in VR first. Run simulations. In fact, run a lot of simulations as realistic as possible.”
Willow frowned. “I’m really a hands-on person, sir.” She was a maker; she generally left the coding side to her AI partner.
“Then find someone who can do the VR side and the testing. Run them through various scenarios and then see what comes out the other side. You are on a shoestring budget. I’m pulling a few credits from projects that completed early and under budget to finance this,” he warned.
Mars nodded from his spot on the general’s desk.
Willow thought fast. “We could probably build the thing for the cost of hiring a programming team and getting them through the necessary security clearances, sir.” She was hoping that would deter him. With AI and nanites, they could fab just about anything as long as they had raw material or meta materials.
Of course they had to have a basic design to copy first.
“We have AI for a lot of the coding as you know,” the general reminded her. Willow flushed slightly as Peggy quirked an eyebrow upward on her HUD. The dwarven armorer gave a slight grudging nod. “You could also involve Bagheera.”
Willow blinked. “Sir? He’s a civilian.”
“Who is on base and is an avid gamer. He doesn’t need to know what he’s testing. Just have Peggy or some of the other AI create a game mod. Design the basic unit and drop it in and then create various scenarios for him to try it out with.”
“I’ll create the scenarios,” Mars stated.
Willow blinked and then cocked her head. She didn’t like that Mars would create the scenarios but then again they would be tough but fair.
“That could work,” her AI stated. “We can look at game examples as well. We haven’t gotten beyond the sci-fi references in the pitch.”
“Good. Try that first,” the general stated.
Willow nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
<<(O)>>
So, I am struggling with getting back into writing. I have been having a lot of fun making various projects. I may post some images and video here in the coming weeks.
I just finished a life size Wampa bust, it is... cool. :)
Anyway, I need to get back to the AI art and the current book I am writing. I sent Rea J10 the other day so I better get on the snippets too.
Oh, you are going to see some crossover material. That syncs my timeline up and of course some events drive reactions in other circles... yadda yadda.
On to the snippet!
Chapter 1
Deep Space, Sigma Sector
Jethro felt a sense of relief as the titanic ship dropped out of hyperspace. It pushed through the last barrier in an incredible burst of energy and then drifted. Second Fleet came in behind them. As he stared at the screens Bast finished working her way into the computers and signaled the other Cadre members.
Jethro noted other AI in the network but he was busy making certain that a reactor wouldn’t overload or something. He’d hate to come this far only to blow it somehow. When power dropped to lower levels he flicked his ears.
“We’re getting calls from across the ship demanding to know what is going on,” Bast said in amusement.
“Now what?” Mara asked, looking very small as she climbed out of the helm tube. Water dripped around her. She snagged a towel from the limp fingers of a sleeping attendant and dried herself off. She looked at the other sleeping water dwellers and her lower lip quivered.
Bast sent a signal to the nanites to wake them up. The girls woke within seconds. They looked up to Mara and then began to cry.
Bast flashed ‘trauma’ on Jethro’s HUD in yellow as a caution. He gave a slight nod and ear flick of acknowledgment.
“You were very brave. Now we get you and your friends back home,” Jethro rumbled softly.
“Home,” she said in a quavering voice. She shivered violently. The other water dwellers cuddled with her. “Home,” the blue woman said softly over and over again as she cried. They cried with her huddling together in a knot of comfort, misery, and relief.
“Sitrep?” Jethro asked as he scanned the room.
“Doors secure. They are armored so the guards outside won’t get in easily… even if they were awake which they are not,” Bast stated. Jethro raised an eyebrow in inquiry. “I am in their computers and control the life support.”
Jethro nodded.
Images appeared with knots of humanity as well as some fighting. Jethro grunted. Even though he had control of the ship there was still more to do. They had anticipated this, the die hards would try to fight to the end rather than surrender.
“You need to broadcast to the ship to lay down their arms,” Bast stated. “I am transmitting the codes to Second Fleet with the invitation to come on board.”
Jethro nodded and took a position at parade rest. When Bast nodded a green light came on in front of him indicating that she was recording.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Jethro said over an all hands circuit. “This is Chief Warrant Officer Jethro McClintock. I am the black cat you definitely do not want to cross,” he growled.
Bast smiled and barred her teeth briefly.
“As some of you know, the Cadre boarded this vessel several days ago. We have disabled the self-destruct and taken control of this vessel. Your empress and her staff are in our custody.”
He didn’t look around the room.
<<(O)>>
Detective Kern felt his shoulders slump a little as he and other police officers and their families gathered around the video screens in the bullpen to watch the broadcast from the black cat.
He wasn’t quite ready to admit it, but he felt strangely relieved that it was over.
<<(O)>>
Jewel Cohen stared at the screen. Her lower lip quivered as did her whole body. “What happens to us now?” she asked as she turned to her parents.
“I wish I knew,” her father said quietly. He shook his head. “I wish I knew.”
<<(O)>>
Across the ship some diehards bristled at the idea of surrendering. Some were just ornery, others knew that they would be executed for war crimes. They had no reason to lay down their arms. Some privately vowed to build a death guard of as many people as possible.
<<(O)>>
“Twenty or so years ago I boarded one of your ships on my own in a little star system called Kathy’s World,” Jethro rumbled matter of factly. He felt his lips twitch in an almost smile. “I fought the crew to a standstill. Their captain negotiated to leave if I left their ship.” Bast flicked her ears on his HUD.
His ears flicked briefly. “Well, this time I brought friends,” he growled.
Bast smirked on his HUD. She had been with hiim on that mission but she was classified.
“We are now out of hyperspace. Second Fleet and a task force of Tenth Fleet are outside and boarding Marines now. Your fleet, what little was left of it, fled. We control your life support, your security systems, weapons, computers, power, the whole kit and caboodle people. There is nowhere to run, if you try to hide we’ll find you. There is no sense in fighting. It is over,” Jethro said flatly. As he spoke Bast was altering the command codes for the systems with the support of the other AI. She was also locking down sections of the ship, trapping people while also mapping their locations.
<<(O)>>
Chief Warrant Officer Hurranna grinned at Jethro’s broadcast. “Now that’s tellin’ them,” she growled. She glanced to the compartment where the EPOWs were being housed. Some looked even more defeated. Good.
<<(O)>>
"Power plants are on lock down. All self-destruct packages are secure. All magazines are secure though some are only remotely secure," Minotaur reported.
Ox grunted and flicked his ears. After a moment he nodded. "Good to know."
"Marine shuttles are inbound. Once they have a secure beachhead they will start to ferry over the skeleton crew."
"The round up?" Ox asked.
"Lockdown has been initiated. Anyone not locked down will be caught. We are working on tracking them now. Many are without weapons."
"Understood."
"It is rather pathetic that many of their weapons are melee weapons."
"Thank the tyrant for that," the Tauren rumbled as his thick fingers scrolled through the feeds. "She didn't want her people armed out of paranoia. So, it bit her in the ass."
"Right," Minotaur stated. "Though, they are pirates. We still need to be careful. That militia came as something of a surprise."
"Agreed."
<<(O)>>
Hey so, got it back earlier than expected and here we go!
About:
Admiral Shelby Logan has had a lot of challenges in her life since growing up on Anvil Station. Her initial naval career as chief engineer and then XO on Firefly, her time on Prometheus, leading the expedition to the Tau sector, trying to make contact and rebuild the Federation, fighting pirates, fighting the pirate plagues, and then the xenophobic Tauren Confederation. Now she is in for another challenge like she had never experienced before.
The Tauren Confederation has fractured and a civil war has been put down. But thousands of Federation personnel were taken hostage by xenophobic fanatics hell bent on making a last stand. Shelby is light years away; forced to watch and send what forces she can in the vain hope of saving them and the man she has started a relationship with…
And on the northern frontier of the sector, an ancient nightmare alliance has spread like a cancer to the neighboring sector and threatens all of civilization…
Amazon: Occupation
B&N: Occupation
New Tau Metropolis, Tau sector
Shelby felt like the pieces were beginning to fall into place, but they could easily come apart at any moment.
Obadiah had his yard dogs humming with the rebuild project. Admiral Irons’ idea to draw in the support of the worlds around the naval base had proven enormously helpful. The representatives and senators had gone to bat on the hill in support of the base… naturally of course since they saw it as an opportunity for their businesses and trade to thrive.
That had sold the project on the hill despite opposition from Bek.
They had also pushed for the base to the north. That was an ongoing project she knew. She hated that the communication lines were so fragmented there at the moment. Hopefully Cynthia was okay. She wouldn’t feel comfortable until there was an ansible in place and Rick was up there.
She was still on the fence about bringing the Taurens in. On the one hand, they may need all hands on deck. But on the other… they’d been shooting at each other not so long ago, and the Taurens had a loyalty issue still with their aborted civil war.
“Penny for your thoughts ma’am?” Boni, her AI asked whimsically.
“Just… thinking that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And some things make for strange bed fellows,” Shelby replied.
Boni smiled on her HUD.
“How are we with the troops?”
“Another saying for you, a body in motion…?” Boni replied. “So far so good. They are marching to the sound of the guns, which is the important thing at the moment.”
“Are there guns sounding off on T-15?” Shelby asked.
“A recent artillery strike on refugee vehicles. No other shots fired at the moment. They are contained.”
“I doubt that,” Shelby murmured. “Somehow, I doubt that very much.”
<<(O)>>
Purple Nights
Secretary of State Moira Sema was cautiously pleased with the long hours of work with her Tauren counterpart and their respective staffs on the new treaty. The new agreement with the Taurens was for mutual defense against the Xeno-Necron alliance to the north.
The Confederation was still getting their house in order but Admiral Irons and the Tauren President’s broadcast about the threat had ended a lot of insurrection overnight. No one wanted to rock the boat. In fact, many personnel who had resigned in protest over the surrender or had refused to fight their own people were asking to be let back in.
She shook her head. That was not her problem of course. The Taurens had to figure it out on their own. Clearly trust would be a long term issue. What was her problem was to make it all work somehow. Give them a framework to shape protocol to keep everyone in line and on their best behavior.
They were about to test the waters with the agreement for Ninth Fleet to transit through Confederation space. Transiting through Confederation space would cut the transit time to the north by months. It also would allow the fleet to show the flag, which would hopefully put any further thoughts of rebellion to rest in the restive territory.
Picking up some Confederation ships to ally with them would be nice. They were still working on that. They did agree to have guides to escort the fleet, however the navy was concerned about the Tauren ships being able to keep up.
From what her people were reporting, the Taurens had similar concerns.
<<(O)>>
Minox IV
“So… what gives skipper?” Sergeant Bolt asked with a frown as he came up to the lieutenant. He flick his long ears at his boss.
“We’ve been reassigned,” the lieutenant said. She looked a little nonplussed but then interested.
The Serval blinked. “Okay…?” he drawled.
The LT eyed him. “You heard about the mess in T-15?”
The Neocat nodded. His long ears flicked again and then went back as the implications sunk in. It was going to mean a long transit in stasis as a popsicle and then possible combat.
“They are giving an ollie ollie in free call to all troops in the area. So, we’re going.”
Bolt blinked. “So, the contact and inspection mission?”
“On hold. Clearly the Taurens here are behaving themselves. We’ve recruited some of their alien population to do the job for us.”
Bolt nodded. They had established that much. There had been some strides in integrating the various species too. Not great ones, but some strides.
“We move out in two hours, so get your people squared away and to the LZ. Oh, and we’re not going alone.”
“Ma’am?”
“We’re taking a couple squads of Taurens with us.”
The Serval blinked in surprise at that news and then his eyes narrowed.
“It is going to get crowded in Marine country, at least until we get into stasis. I want everyone on their best behavior. We need to be one big happy family.”
“Aye aye ma’am,” the cat said with a wary nod. This is going to be… interesting, he thought with a slight shake of his head as she dismissed him.
<<(O)>>
President Scar Chin studied the reports and then sat back and rubbed his brow. It was a lot to take in.
His peripheral vision caught movement. He turned and noted a distant ship was moving under power. He puzzled over it and why it was triggering something in his mind before he realized it was most likely the Feds.
The Fed cruiser was moving their Marines out to T-15 as quickly as possible. They were even taking a squad of Taurens with them.
He wished them luck. They were definitely going to need it.
<<(O)>>
Sergeant Bolt nodded to his troops. They'd left one fire team behind to man the embassy, such as it was. Hopefully, the brass would send in additional people soon.
The serval's eyes moved to the Taurens. He flicked his long ears. They seemed uncomfortable, but it wasn't because of the enclosed space. None had been on a Federation ship, and they had been shooting at each other not so long ago.
There were two squads of them. Some were young, only two were older. Only one was a noncom. He had yet to get together with the bull. He hoped that they'd get along; he didn't need a pissing match.
He glanced at the Marines across from the Taurens. Come to think of it, some of his people weren't too comfortable with them on board either.
"Okay, listen up. We've got a ride to the combat zone. We're going to spend it in stasis. We're going to go into stasis in two days."
The troops looked concerned.
"I'm taking that time to get aquainted. We need to get up to speed on each other and tech. I know it isn't enough. I've asked the captain to wake us one week out from our destination so we squeeze in any additional training. Any questions?"
A few people looked ready to say something but he rolled right over them. Most likely they were protests.
"Good. Remember, one big happy family at the moment. I don't know what our assignments are when we get there but I want us working smoothly when we do. That way we can hit the ground running. Right?"
That last word came out as a command growl. Instinctively, the troops all stiffened and nodded.
"Good," he said with a slight ear flick of amusement. "Kit check-in ten then inspection, then we get to the nitty gritty on the range to zero in and get aquainted. Then we'll break into fire teams to hit the dojo and simulation time. One third on, one third racked out, one third doing our usual duties and rotate. I'm going to see the XO on that. You've got until I'm done to get squared away. Help each other," he said.
He knew there was going to be resentment and even an instinctive desire to let the Taurens hang, also competition. Well, he would deal with each as it came up. He could handle competition. A little healthy competition was good.
"Get on it, people," he growled as he about-faced and left the compartment.
<<(O)>>
"Sergeant Bolt?" the Tauren who came up behind Bolt said.
"Yes … ah ...?" he frowned. He'd instinctively tried to ping the Tauren with his implants but hadn't gotten a response.
"Sergeant Gros. My people are having trouble accessing some facilities."
"I'm noticing that and the why now. I'm sorry we haven't gotten together for a pow wow before," the serval said.
The Tauren nodded. "We were thrown together. I was a corporal up until a few hours ago."
"Well, that solves the question of who ranks who."
"Oh, you do, Sergeant."
"Nice that we've got the pecking order established, the smaller being stated. He felt a bit ludicrious next to the bigger alien. "Do you have a counterpart in the other squad?"
"Sergeant Toa. He's also new. You'll find that we are … green."
"How green?" the serval asked as he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
"As in most of us are straight out of boot?" the Tauren replied.
"Oh, lovely," the serval replied. "Well, at least you haven't picked up any bad habits," he said.
The Tauren nodded. "Toa and I were top of our class. I just finished advanced training and they, well, dumped us in this mission."
"I see. Well, the good news is that we've got time to sort things out."
"Yeah, like access to things? Even the head is locked. It is called a head, right?"
"Yes," the serval said. His mental evaluation of the Tauren went up a point. "Okay, we need to get you ID tags or get your tags integrated with ours." He saw the Tauren's ears droop and then perk up. "Do you have tags?"
"No. We have basic ID tags but not internal like you do."
"Ah. Well, good news is, they are easy. Just go to medical, they program the ID, it is a big pill or two, swallow, and in the morning you wake up with a basic ID and HUD."
"No pain?"
"Nope. It gives us a link to you so the AI knows who you are and will let you into areas of the ship you are authorized to be in. And it IDs you on the battlefield to us and to each other."
The Tauren nodded. "Good to know."
"If you have advanced implants, it gets better. But let's go see what the brass has in mind for you."
"Ah … yeah."
"I know, don't poke the bear or in this case the brass. In this case, it is a decision above our pay grade so we gotta," the serval said with an ear flick. "Let me take the lead."
"Ah, yes, Sergeant." The Tauren nodded.
Bolt nodded and motioned for the Tauren to follow him.
<<(O)>>
So, I couldn't resist posting this here: I 3D printed this guy at the original scale that Sabertooth Collectibles sold it as, made ano...
