Forging Ahead (GURPS Interstellar Wars/Celestial Forge)

[cliffc999]

Kids nowadays. Venture Brothers originally got that one from Jonny Quest, which is entirely what I was referencing.

 

[Panaka]

Glad to see this is back, and glad to see the kidnapping plot has been hit by the retcon gun. That came way out of left field.

 

[Morkail]

Took me like half the chapter to realize what story this was, what a pleasant surprise. Glad to see this get an update thanks for the chapter.

 

[Velk]

Glad to see this get properly resurrected, now to go reread so I know what's going on.

 

[beowolf]

I'm sorry, jump-what? The Third Imperium doesn't even have jump-9. I'm surprised her reward for boosting tech in a military significant fashion didn't trigger here.

And then I got here, and realised why she didn't. For people who don't know Traveler and didn't get it from the Forge saying so, this breaks everything. Communication in Traveler is handled by mail ships between planets, because it's faster than any other option. And she just broke that.

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She hasn't built a jump-9 ship yet, is the thing. She has blueprints in her head for Battletech jumpships, which would be the equivalent of jump-9 once built, but the k-f jump drive needing hundreds of tons of germanium as a catalyst to work means she didn't feel she could convince anyone to sign off on building a prototype until she'd proved her jumpspace theories.

 

[Slayer 10321]

She hasn't built a jump-9 ship yet, is the thing. She has blueprints in her head for Battletech jumpships, which would be the equivalent of jump-9 once built, but the k-f jump drive needing hundreds of tons of germanium as a catalyst to work means she didn't feel she could convince anyone to sign off on building a prototype until she'd proved her jumpspace theories.

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Now watch as she eventually develops the BTech Jumpdrives into nBSG Jumpdrives through sufficient research and iteration thanks to not being held back by the greater Battletech setting.

 

[Prince Chrom]

She hasn't built a jump-9 ship yet, is the thing. She has blueprints in her head for Battletech jumpships, which would be the equivalent of jump-9 once built, but the k-f jump drive needing hundreds of tons of germanium as a catalyst to work means she didn't feel she could convince anyone to sign off on building a prototype until she'd proved her jumpspace theories.

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Even the theory of how to make one breaks things. The Third Imperium hasn't got past Jump-6 yet.

 

[cliffc999]

I kinda know how you feel, there isn't really a whole lot published about this time period in TRAVELER. Most of what we get in the rulebooks is basically a paragraph talking of ancient history centuries past.

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GURPS 4e has an entire Interstellar Wars sourcebook covering the original Vilani-Terran war era, but yeah, outside of that one it's not something Traveller ever touched.

She was right that she hadn't really invented anything yet.

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Well, except for FTL comms, which in the Traveller setting are absolutely game-breaking.

Note that she successfully got Main Quest Completion in the most recent chapter. Sofia could drop dead right now and her minimum job would be done.

but the k-f jump drive needing hundreds of tons of germanium as a catalyst to work

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In addition, the size requirements are much larger. Note that in BTech, what would be considered the smallest size of scout vessel/picket ship would have the same displacement as a cruiser in Interstellar Wars. Sofia knows she won't even begin to sell the BTech jump drive until she can either massively reduce the size and power requirements and/or build enough of a rep they'll actually drop that kind of expense just on her say-so.

Getting all the way to jump-9 will definitely be a thing. Of course, in the canon Interstellar Wars timeline the Imperium bit the curb almost as soon as Terra got jump-3, because that's all you need to break out of the astrographic spacelanes the Vilani are locked into by the availability of 2-parsec jump routes and start doing things like cutting across empty interstellar space to enter and leave the enemy's interior lines in a way they can't match.

 

[drakensis]

One possibility for where to go with this, is that the protagonist is an obvious choice for an early (not the first) expedition across the void away from the Vilani. Not only does it get her out of their reach, it has a very qualified scientist to deal with any un-expected problems with the expedition. And of course, those problems may stretch her narratively.

It is, of course, 100% your story and I have no say but it struck me as a possibility.

 

[Cheetored20]

So i need to re read this, but i read the most recent chapter and loved it! Glad this is back.

I WOULD like to point out that from my limited BT knowledge, canonicaly HPG stations are only SENDERS, there are no RECIVERS, because those are just regular equipment. the data gets spit out of the rift as regular data pulses so you dont need a dedicated station for RECIVING things, only SENDING them. (that being said they might have retconed that or something.)

 

[SemiSaneAuthor]

YES! IT'S BACK! Now, just need to fit a reread into my schedual to refresh my brain on this.

Though, Cliff?

Minor formatting quibble, it's fine on a Laptop or such, but when I saw this update when I checked my phone? That first Paragraph of Chapter 8 looks like a massive wall of text. So for people getting alerts on their phone it's a bit of a hurdle to get into the meat of the chapter.

 

[cliffc999]

She was right that she hadn't really invented anything yet.

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She didn't build an HPG, she built a modified version of the Black Box.

 

[Panaka]

One possibility for where to go with this, is that the protagonist is an obvious choice for an early (not the first) expedition across the void away from the Vilani. Not only does it get her out of their reach, it has a very qualified scientist to deal with any un-expected problems with the expedition. And of course, those problems may stretch her narratively.

It is, of course, 100% your story and I have no say but it struck me as a possibility.

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The flipside is that she's just proven herself to be a strategic asset to the Confederation. They may just be a bit reluctant to risk her unless absolutely necessary.
The Golden Goose and all that.

 

[Faralis]

Really glad to see this back, thanks cliffc999. Even if it's provisional, I hope your muse keeps you well entertained!

 

[anechoic]

Just finished a quick re-read so I'd properly know what was happening.

So glad to see this back

 

[Corvus 501]

A fun reread later, still sad but understand why she decided to ditch the ceph sample, I'm hopeful she gets something good with the new burst of CP.

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I mean, she reverse engineered it completely iirc, so she could theoretically make nanosuites that don't eat their wearer's with a good bit of effort. Or she could use it at a much lower lever to produce Cyberpunk 2020/2077 and Shadowrun style biowear, or even Starblaze Battalion (future Cyberpunk 2020 mech setting from the 90's) style Livemetal augments.

Honestly if she could get stuff from that setting, she'd have what's basically the BattleTech techbase, if it wasn't as poorly engineered as it is in this story's interpretation.

 

[MarcusAureliusVerus]

It lives

Also, as this is QQ, I need to clarify straight-up – no, they're not going to be shipped. Neither of them even has that orientation. *g*

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On one hand, I totally agree and I got the platonic friend vibe and sleeping with your bodyguard seems like a bad idea.
On the other hand, they would have looked cute together and it matches the formula of a good deal of romances and we missed the potential kawaii.

 

[SemiSaneAuthor]

On the other hand, they would have looked cute together and it matches the formula of a good deal of romances and we missed the potential kawaii.

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Yes, but this means they both have the potential for romance arcs with someone else. So we get a bigger potential cast for Cliff to play with if he decides to join The Ship Side of The Force. If any of Cliff's potential plans get even to the idle musing at the back of his head if he does.

Also, on the notion of romance arcs. I'd just like to note: "Nice Bechdel Test Pass, Cliff," what I just realised when the notion of shipping was brought up.

 

[Blaflaix]

And now I was finally starting to reach that point and I realized that I only felt embarrassed. Because it wasn't really my genius at all they were praising, was it?

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The really weird ones are the [Shop System] stories where their systems sets up a store, and inventory, and pricing, and designated customers.
…so all they're doing is manning the cash register?

clearly there was some type of communication error if they didn't already brief you about that before you departed the Skunk Works.

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Now I'm imagining an action thriller with the genius scientist on the run.

"Where are your bodyguards?"
"Why would I have bodyguards?"
"…we're running from your bodyguards, aren't we?"
"Don't be silly. Nobody told me about any bodyguards."

 

[Blade4]

Well was not expecting to see this again but glad to see it. But indeed is Mira minder or protector or both? A woman who can at least vaguely understand Sophia and what she is going through. About same age... A sister but also a mole right next to her to watch in case of instability. Or disloyalty. Can hardly blame the government. Sophia is a huge asset but she is also a anomaly and if decides to turn that big brain against the Confederation? That could get very ugly.

 

[cliffc999]

All I'm going to say at this juncture is that it's pretty obvious they really hand-picked the agent for this assignment as being not only one of the very best they had available anywhere but who was also highly compatible and with an exceptional IQ and eclectic knowledge base of her own. Which of course tells you exactly what kind of priority Sofia's case has. There are a lot of places an operative of Special Agent Song's caliber could have been assigned, but instead she's here.

 

[Xiosdestro11]

She made the k-series blackbox from battletech and not the hpg stations? Or was the blackbox just a stepping stone to prove the hpg works? Cuz the k-series blackboxes have problems

 

[Panaka]

She made the k-series blackbox from battletech and not the hpg stations? Or was the blackbox just a stepping stone to prove the hpg works? Cuz the k-series blackboxes have problems

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Read the chapter again.
Comstar/Star League probably knew about those issues and how to fix them. They just didn't.

Sophia made sure the issue was dealt with.

 

[Kahalah]

What about creating the more primitive jumpdrive that have the 15 YL limit instead?

 

[Blade4]

All I'm going to say at this juncture is that it's pretty obvious they really hand-picked the agent for this assignment as being not only one of the very best they had available anywhere but who was also highly compatible and with an exceptional IQ and eclectic knowledge base of her own. Which of course tells you exactly what kind of priority Sofia's case has. There are a lot of places an operative of Special Agent Song's caliber could have been assigned, but instead she's here.

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And it is a tad concerning because this lady is a potential super spy and they have her playing bodyguard and potential shrink. But then they should be very invested in keeping Sophia sane and happy and once her cover is broken a lot of people not just the Vilani are going to want to snatch her or remove her from the board.

She made the k-series blackbox from battletech and not the hpg stations? Or was the blackbox just a stepping stone to prove the hpg works? Cuz the k-series blackboxes have problems

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The blackbox works for what it needs to do and is fairly cheap and easy to make and can be put in a briefcase. HPG are generally building size and expensive and to get the most out of them you need to set up a web of them at ranges the Confed is not even at yet.