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Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



That has possibilities :D

So I wanna get a pulse check. How soon do we want to see the big reveal? Keep in mind that it will effectively 'end' the trilogy, and put us into editing mode. We'll be going back through the entire story, new POVs, answering any questions, cutting out the boring bits, but it will take prolly the summer. So we wouldn't do any new material post-reveal until the editing is done.

Between 10k and 90k words, how much do you want to see before the Big Reveal?

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There Bias Two
Jan 13, 2009
I'm not a good person

ASAP! Finish this and go earn your piles of money that you deserve.

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

I'll just leave this right here.

poor life choice
Jul 21, 2006
As a reader I like logging in indefinitely and seeing posts but if you have a (90k word, yes, good) finale then let it rip IMO.

You either die in the goldmine or live long enough to get gassed.

e: you may want to cruise the Creative Convention. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3676759 and http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3639693 jumped out at me,

poor life choice fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Jan 9, 2016

Ysengrin
Feb 13, 2012

poor life choice posted:

As a reader I like logging in indefinitely and seeing posts but if you have a (90k word, yes, good) finale then let it rip IMO.

You either die in the goldmine or live long enough to get gassed.

e: you may want to cruise the Creative Convention. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3676759 and http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3639693 jumped out at me,

This definitely. If you've got it in you for more writing, then I'd love to read the most extra possible content.

Ursine Catastrophe
Nov 9, 2009

It's a lovely morning in the void and you are a horrible lady-in-waiting.



don't ask how i know

Dinosaur Gum

LowellDND posted:

Between 10k and 90k words, how much do you want to see before the Big Reveal?

You do you. I want to see as many words between here and the big reveal as it takes you to tell a compelling story. Don't cut it short or pad it out because someone says "MORE WORDS", that's how american television series go to poo poo.

Ralith
Jan 12, 2011

I see a ship in the harbor
I can and shall obey
But if it wasn't for your misfortune
I'd be a heavenly person today

Ursine Catastrophe posted:

You do you. I want to see as many words between here and the big reveal as it takes you to tell a compelling story. Don't cut it short or pad it out because someone says "MORE WORDS", that's how american television series go to poo poo.

These are my sentiments as well.

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
Maybe we can do another season and explore the child Ohone gave up before she came on board the Beast. Then there's spinoffs and what ifs. Oh! And flashback episodes, and maybe the gang can go to, wait for it, Alpha Centurai!

VanSandman
Feb 16, 2011
SWAP.AVI EXCHANGER
I'd rather see more content than less.

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

More stuff happening, not necessarily bighuge text blocks for the sake of it. Hemmingway this bitch through the floor.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Alrighty :v: That gives me some space to play with, I wasn't sure if people wanted to fast forward to the end :D

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
I'm honestly happy if you go at your own pace and write what you think works best.

BoneMonkey
Jul 25, 2008

I am happy for you.

You do you.

Your writing is truly excellent and a joy to read, I have complete faith in you.

Volmarias
Dec 31, 2002

EMAIL... THE INTERNET... SEARCH ENGINES...
I don't care what you do as long as you just keep writing.

HiHo ChiRho
Oct 23, 2010

Volmarias posted:

I don't care what you do as long as you just keep writing.

Slaan
Mar 16, 2009



ASHERAH DEMANDS I FEAST, I VOTE FOR A FEAST OF FLESH

Volmarias posted:

I don't care what you do as long as you just keep writing. kill off the bloody space elfs

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Volmarias posted:

I don't care what you do as long as you just keep writing.

This.

Althair
Jul 26, 2006
words are weapons

Volmarias posted:

I don't care what you do as long as you just keep writing.

sniper4625
Sep 26, 2009

Loyal to the hEnd

Volmarias posted:

I don't care what you do as long as you just keep writing.

Lanky Coconut Tree
Apr 7, 2011

An angry tree.

The angriest tree

Volmarias posted:

I don't care what you do as long as you just keep writing kill off the bloody space cats.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Lowell, you wanted to see Lykaeon headbutt a Gargant. I apologise for how long it took, but here you go.


Slice of Life: Lykaeon, World Eater Captain. Location: Golgotha, Ork Territory

Endless were the offerings he had lain on the altar of the Blood God. Countless were the skulls of a thousand different Xeno breeds that he had given for the Skull Throne. Still, the churning feeling in the pit of his stomach remained. Still, the fire in him had come nowhere near being quenched. He was not mindless in his rage, not by a great margin, but when it came upon him he gave himself to it willingly. It was the difference between surfing the crest of a tsunami or facing it and being obliterated.

Occasionally though, the tide rode him and not the other way around. He was little more than a leaf in a hurricane. Such was the screaming, drooling savagery that he found himself coming down from right now. Around him scattered for leagues were pieces of Ork anatomy, gently misted with the spore-heavy ichor of their viridian blood. All that was left before him and the giggling, howling monstrosities that served his God was a single enemy vehicle.

It sat squat, like a hundred metre tall fertility idol with its priapic cannon jutting from beneath its belly. The chatter of stubber fire and the occasional explosion brought clarity to his mind for a moment as he turned to regard the Ork Gargant. The metal teeth within his mouth thrummed and tiny sigils of Khorne flared up on them. Rather than a collar, Khorne had given him something far more useful. A mouth worthy of a Champion of the Blood God.

He knew from the tingling, thrumming sensation that the xenos had a psyker aboard their vehicle, but it was of no concern to him. His God hated the psyker, the sorceror, the witch. He hated them too, and as a pillar of gore erupted nearby from a rokkit with a deafening boom, he turned toward the Gargant and drove himself into a sprint. His dead black eyes, soulless like those of a shark, almost seemed to flicker with a hint of emotion, a whisper of something beyond rage. It was joy.

"SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!" He howled at the top of his lungs, which drew the attention of the Bloodletters nearby, they had been severing heads and peeling skulls but seeing the imminence of new bloodshed they joined his howl, adding their cacophonic choir to his.

Within a minute, under a hail of bullets and rokkit-fire, he had closed the distance with the Gargant. He vaulted with inhuman strength and swung the writhing knot that replaced his left arm up above him. It unfurled a good five metres and the screaming teeth of the chain-tentacle bit deeply into the hull plating. He used it to pull himself upward much to the concern of the Orks in the turrets above, who concentrated their fire on him. Hundreds of stubber shells rained harmlessly upon him until one of the Orks emerged carrying a rokkit launcha.

He braced himself and his right fist squeezed the handle of the Thunder Hammer. As the Ork fired, he swung the hammer, resulting in a bright flash and a peal of thunder that caused the Orks above to reel and fire their stubbers wildly below. They looked more than a little surprised to see Lykaeon unscathed except for facial burns that, while still smoking and quite vicious-looking, appeared to be healing already.

"Bring da Weirdboy!"

"E'z comin'!"

"'URRY! 'E'Z ALMOST UP DA SIDE!"

Another Ork emerged as Lykaeon hauled himself higher, embedding the hammer in the hull and swinging that tentacular limb upward again. He swung again and again, faster and faster until he was practically quad-running up the side of the Gargant. Emerging onto the walkway, a thoroughly confused-looking Ork stumbled out. Atop his head, a shock of bright blue hair sticking straight upward thanks to a squig attached to his scalp. He saw Lykaeon and the Bloodletters clambering up the Gargant's hull and screamed, vomiting forth a rainbow of psychic energy like some sort of psychedelic laser cannon. The beam carved across the Gargant's belly, leaving a charred, blackened gouge in the bright yellow paintwork. It passed harmlessly over the Bloodletters and over Lykaeon. For all the good it did them, the Orks on the walkway turned to run.

With one final heave, Lykaeon hauled himself onto the balcony and planted a massive boot in the back of one of the Orks, sending him sprawling even as the chain-tentacle lashed out and ensnared the Weirdboy, wrapping him in its length before squealing to life, reducing the shrieking Ork to several gobbets and half-limbs. Lykaeon advanced, standing on the fallen Ork's head and pressing down slowly. Another scream, followed by a sickening crack and then silence.

The others made it within but in moments, the sound of cackled laughter and howls of bloodlust emerged as the Bloodletters teleported inside to finish off the crew. Lykaeon clambered up higher, over the left shoulder and then up the lower jaw. He stood right in front of the eye viewports, bellowed his fury to the heavens and ploughed his forehead into the armour between.

Hexenritter fucked around with this message at 09:12 on Jan 10, 2016

Grognan
Jan 23, 2007

by Fluffdaddy
Larger is nicer

Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug
Brutal.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001



Properly honouring the Blood God is serious business™

sullat
Jan 9, 2012

Blasphemaster posted:

More stuff happening, not necessarily bighuge text blocks for the sake of it. Hemmingway this bitch through the floor.

S.O.L: Abaddon the Despoilier

Abaddon woke up to the faint hum of machinery. It always reminded him of the sound of insects at night back on Kan-yah IV. He pulled himself up from his bed, and stretched. The false warmth of the fluorescent lights felt good on his skin. He turned on the hotplate and filled the percolator with water. Then he took several scoops of the finest Blue Mountain coffee, taken in a raid so long ago. He placed the coffee in the filter, put that in the percolator, and set it on the hotplate. This done, he picked up his storm bolter from the rack where it hung. He hefted it, felt its balance. Then he began to carefully disassemble it. Once that was done, he carefully oiled the parts that needed oil and cleaned the parts that showed some wear or corrosion. As he did this, the percolator began to whistle. He ignored it. Once the parts of the bolter were cleaned, he reassembled it, big hands moving surprisingly deftly. The coffee pot was screaming now, but he still ignored it. He stepped out into the corridor outside his room. Took aim with the storm bolter and fired off several rounds. The crack of the bolts and the sound of the shells exploding were old friends to him. He went back into his room. Hung the bolter back up on its rack. Finally, he pulled the coffee pot off the hotplate. He poured the coffee into an old tin mug. He then dropped in two, no three lumps of sugar. He poured in some milk and stirred the mix. Then he took a long sip. The once rich flavor was now burnt and bitter. But it did not matter. They didn't call him the Despoiler for nothing.

Not canon

Volmarias
Dec 31, 2002

EMAIL... THE INTERNET... SEARCH ENGINES...

sullat posted:

The once rich flavor was now burnt and bitter. But it did not matter. They didn't call him the Despoiler for nothing.

This right here is a reason to exile someone into the eye of terror.

The Milkman Cometh
Sep 13, 2007

LowellDND posted:

Between 10k and 90k words, how much do you want to see before the Big Reveal?

Whatever you think is gonna make for the best story.

Your writing easily eclipses that of Dan Abnett. I can't imagine you going to be having any trouble getting this published, and I'll be the first in line to buy it.

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Finally!

:munch:

Been waiting for some General Creed action. If he can stealth a Titan he can do anything.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



The Milkman Cometh posted:

Whatever you think is gonna make for the best story.

Your writing easily eclipses that of Dan Abnett. I can't imagine you going to be having any trouble getting this published, and I'll be the first in line to buy it.

:3: Thank you everyone for your kind words.

Just bought some new coffee, so Im thinking get a vote count (I think the winner was relativistic kill missiles?) and get writing :D

Lord Zedd-Repulsa
Jul 21, 2007

Devour a good book.


I hope this isn't terrible.

Slice of Life: Anonymous Cultist

Nothing else makes him feel like this. He tried plenty of times, but always goes back to murder. Once in awhile, he even prays for a safer method of release. Chaos hasn’t listened.

But nothing feels as good as the clothes he wears and miraculously cleans up afterwards. Nothing feels as good as the gloves he slides on or as good as the knife does in his hand, the metal warming up until it’s the same temperature as the fabric.

Nothing sounds as good as ship’s creaks and rattles. Nothing sounds as good as his footsteps padding in the shadows, avoiding the loud spots he found in advance. Nothing sounds as good as crowds of Dregs chattering distractedly while he wraps his arms around the smallest, weakest person he spots in the moment of action.

Nothing smells as good as fear. Nothing smells as good as hair that was last washed some unknown time ago; it smells human rather than chemical. Nothing smells as good as the first spurt of blood when it hits the walls (or ceiling) of whatever abandoned room he found for his fun. The blood that paints the walls and floor after comes close but doesn’t quite reach that first peak.

Nothing looks as good as their ragdoll corpse drained as if he were an oversized mosquito or a monster from legends millenia in humanity’s past. Nothing looks as good as the sigils he draws in their blood in hopes that Chaos will come for him and give him all the time that exists to figure out how to feel even better from ending a life.

And nothing, nothing tastes as good as the air in the dark ship the day his wish finally comes true. He hears that Terra will be better in every way once they get there. The others with him dream of luxuriant clothing and food, but he dreams of virtually endless prey whether on pilgrimage or in a hive.

But this will be a long flight. He’ll feel the urge gnawing in his gut like hunger. He’ll start looking for the darkest places. And if he can’t control himself, he’s prepared for what may follow.

Lord Zedd-Repulsa fucked around with this message at 08:29 on Feb 2, 2016

Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug
I guess it's time to purge the crew again.

poor life choice
Jul 21, 2006
No man that's just a pretty chill cultist on one of the Blackheart slave ships. He is in for a rude awakening though if he's bringing a knife to an Ohone fight.

e:

poor life choice fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Jan 11, 2016

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



vote:

wild weasel swarm
blasphemaster
outrail
deadmeat
bb rod
LIG
sergzpartan

grab stationary weapons, dump and engage
PLC
serspook

empty fort
nyaa

throw us in our titan
paragon1

Drinking my coffee, we'll see if posts happen :v:

HiHo ChiRho
Oct 23, 2010

write! write faster!

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


LowellDND posted:

vote:

wild weasel swarm
blasphemaster
outrail
deadmeat
bb rod
LIG
sergzpartan

grab stationary weapons, dump and engage
PLC
serspook

empty fort
nyaa

throw us in our titan
paragon1

Drinking my coffee, we'll see if posts happen :v:

given I was the one that suggested kinetic kill vehicles in the first place I think you know where my vote lies :D

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Current: 409,678

Today’s music: Zertstoren by Rammstein

Wild Weasel Swarm

You paused, considered. “Do we need to make a decision immediately?”
“What do you mean?”
“Commit our forces to a focused defense. We don’t know what the dilemma is yet, he’s not making us choose.”
“That’s true.”
“Okay. So let’s disrupt him on the way, hit him with kill vehicles.”
Marinus frowned. “All the fleets have gone to Golgotha.”
“Unmanned, just rain down a bunch of material on his position.”
He gestured. “We already are. Millions of torpedoes from all over the System have been smashing him for months.”
“Standard torpedoes, Fleet package?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, I have something else in mind.”

-

The Imperium has fought one continuous war since it’s inception, over one hundred centuries ago. As such, several doctrinal habits have become habit. Firstly, things are kept as simple as possible - torpedos are simple warheads, launched by the energy of their cannon. They lack any intelligence to adjust course, and lack any rockets to adjust that course.

This means that a simple equation - well, as such things go - is all that is needed for it. Do the math, send it into space, prepare the next torpedo. In previous eras, there would be course corrections, avoiding jammers, point defense, and all the rest. In this, the shells are fired, and it’s in the God-Emperor’s hands.

The imperium has fought one continuous war since its inception. Repairing ships, even captured ships, is easier than just building a new one. Ships are expected to last centuries, millennia, because it simply requires less expertise than casting a new one. Partially for this reason, and partially for the capabilities of the cannons themselves, torpedoes only have a certain level of destructiveness.

So, the enemy fleet drops out of warp. The light of the image arrives at your defense platforms or fleets, and you make a best-guess on their current location from that image. IE, they’ve had twenty minutes to move at their current speed and direction, which puts them… over here. You map out an intercept with your torpedoes, looking at your known speed, the torpedo’s speed, and where they are likely to be at current rate of change. And fire.

The light (and other emissions) from the shell arrives to their sensors. They have a certain amount of time to change course, put something else in the way, try to fire a torpedo that impacts it, or simply prepare for battle damage. This could range from putting on void-suits, to decompressing some chambers to prevent fires, or turning the most armoured side towards the impact. The impact hits, and the battle damage is assessed.

Relativistic impacts are … a little different.

Ramped up to partial C speeds, the enemy fleet won’t have moved particularly far - the equivalent of sitting ducks. So the first stage, worrying about how accurate the math is, doesn’t happen as much. They are going to be in about the same area as when you launch.

The other thing about this is that the round arrives very shortly after the light of the image does. The retina of the sensor-clerk might receive the data point, but in the time it takes for them to say something, their ship has been impacted. This means no prepare for damage, no void suits, no turned armor.

All of this would be bad enough - a torpedo hitting under those conditions would devastate a ship. But relativistic shells also release orders of magnitudes more energy - instead of acting like one torpedo, it might impact like ten thousand torpedoes. Indeed, the main reason the Imperium had stopped using them was that they were too destructive.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Now I need to figure out how you would build a cannon like that :v:

Meanwhile, go enjoy the Killing Star :D http://sites.inka.de/mips/reviews/TheKillingStar.html

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Jeb

“Hey, I got a project for you.”
“Yes, Lord-Sire?”
“I need you to build the biggest rocket ever.”

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Current: 410,311

Wild Weasel Swarm

The thing about RKVs is that they take time to build up to that level of speed. So while it’s great that one can hit people across the solar system before they can see you, it takes half a solar system to get to that speed - during which they can see you. In the ancient past, they were strategic weapons, solar systems destroying each other’s planets. Having it work for fleet battles would … require finesse.

The first, and easiest, was to simply flood the area around it. That is to say, sending tens, hundreds of thousands of bits of space debris in the same general area. Ideally, they would match the same speed, at least for the first little while. As it happened, Terra’s orbit was filled with billions of shrapnel, ranging in size from fingernail to battlestar. It was safe-ish to fly through - gravity and Fleet maintenance had put them in decent enough groupings.

So, the position of debris was known, and the desired destination was known. Battlestations and orbitals were loaded up with millions of torpedoes, and while they had been firing continuously at the enemy fleet, they still had vast quantities of reserves. As such, thousands of fusion bombs were being placed in the clusters of debris, carefully calculated. Thousands more were placed elsewhere, acting as secondary initiations.

When it was time, waves of fusion bombs would initiate, and megatons of debris would be pushed deeper into the void, at speed. Many would burn up from the heat of the blast. Many more would go into useless areas, like closer to Sol, but many would also head towards the outer system. Those secondary initiations would flare up, increasing the speed of the debris, channeling their advance along the desired path.

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HiHo ChiRho
Oct 23, 2010

code:
22:48	Arkanomen	what if we just smuggled some dregs infected with the memetic virus
22:48	HiHoChiRho	like a russian doll
22:48	Arkanomen	and then bugged back out
22:48	HiHoChiRho	you want to release the memetic virus near Sol?
22:48	Arkanomen	yes
22:48	HiHoChiRho	loel
22:48	Arkanomen	note, near
22:48	loel	yes?
22:48	HiHoChiRho	I know you are giggling right now
22:48	HiHoChiRho	stop it
22:49	loel	
22:49	HiHoChiRho	NO MEMETIC VIRII IN SOL
22:49	Arkanomen	its not in sol
22:49	Arkanomen	Its near sol
22:49	Arkanomen	and we're okay
22:49	Arkanomen	for now
Alternate History: Terra

The terrors have been pushed back. Ohone's mission was accomplished, although at great cost. As the surviving remnants of humanity return home to celebrate, a wave of massive psykic energy is released from Terra.

The Emperor has awoken. His message to all the ships were the same words he chokes out from his corpse for the first time in millenia.

"I love you."

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