Star Trek: The Quadratic War

[LadyTevar]

Just to make it clear: Ships are named after People. Thus, it's SPECTOR, which I got from the list of known Akira in Memory ALpha. According to MA, it was named for a Israeli minister, or something.

[LadyTevar]

I figured that the Subspace thing would ripple like a pond wave... we might have a few needed moments to figure out how to avoid the Frigates as they turn around.

[Lys]

Ah yes, who can ever forget Mr. Charles Enterprise, after whom the famous ship is named? ^_^

That the effects of the tear would make a faster-than-light subspace wave was also my assumption, hence why had Khanjar almost knocked out of warp since she was very close to the event. It's kind of too bad that something with such dramatic consequences and power was wasted on a mere frigate. One does, however, shudder to think what kind of atrocity would have been effected upon the defenceless fabric of space time had it been a cube going up.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Ah yes, who can ever forget Mr. Charles Enterprise, after whom the famous ship is named? ^_^

That the effects of the tear would make a faster-than-light subspace wave was also my assumption, hence why had Khanjar almost knocked out of warp since she was very close to the event. It's kind of too bad that something with such dramatic consequences and power was wasted on a mere frigate. One does, however, shudder to think what kind of atrocity would have been effected upon the defenceless fabric of space time had it been a cube going up.

My plans are... along those lines.

[Josh]

My plans are... along those lines.

We need to talk.

More specifically our crews need to talk.

And yes, I am very, very sad that I shot my wad on a goddamn lightweight. In my defense, to the Meh'Ta a goddamn Borg rowboat would be somewhat menacing.

[Cynical Cat]

Also, why don't you reply to my game thread post? Don't you like me? After all i've done for you!? ;.;

1) My coms are down and my crew is trying to get its shit together. Sensors aren't a hundred percent, there's been a subspace shockwave originating very close to me, and it's the Badlands.

2) I'm sorry honey. I won't do it again. I promise. Please don't hit me. Not here were the children can see.

[General Havoc]

1) My coms are down and my crew is trying to get its shit together. Sensors aren't a hundred percent, there's been a subspace shockwave originating very close to me, and it's the Badlands.

2) I'm sorry honey. I won't do it again. I promise. Please don't hit me. Not here were the children can see.

*Staggers drunkenly* Why you gotta make me hit you, Cyncat?

Oh, and er... I'm not gonna say nothin' on the subject of subspace weapons and the like, except that when you play with the bull, there's a fair chance you will get the horns.

No, what you just got was not the horns.

[Cynical Cat]

Tortoise, I have tricobalt torpedoes. I could have definitely employed subspace weapons.

Fucking Vulcans.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Tortoise, I have tricobalt torpedoes. I could have definitely employed subspace weapons.

Fucking Vulcans.

Not of that sort. I am talking about a type of subspace weapon that does not yet exist.

Read: not what we saw in Insurrection, but the shit the federation tried and failed to produce during the borg invasion. The sort of subspace weapon that you MIGHT have, were achieved back when the Khitomer Accords were signed.

Looking over it, however, I misworded the text. I will clear up the ambiguity.

That is not to say that Vulcans are not that arrogant. They are. It was however not my intent.

[Josh]

No, what you just got was not the horns.

I took it as the gentle, loving caress of our ever-benevolent and warm-hearted GM.

[Comrade Tortoise]

No, what you just got was not the horns.

I took it as the gentle, loving caress of our ever-benevolent and warm-hearted GM.

God damn. Get a room already

[Josh]

No, what you just got was not the horns.

I took it as the gentle, loving caress of our ever-benevolent and warm-hearted GM.

God damn. Get a room already

It was in a paternal sense.

God damn you are some sick-minded motherfuckers. Men can touch each other without having sensual connotations, for fuck's sake.

I mean, sometimes, right?

[Comrade Tortoise]

...

[youtube][/youtube]

[Josh]

That sheep in the emoticon?

Yeah, that's going to be my ship. The other character is going to be like a fucking SUPERCUBE.

There will be no lube and no gentlemanly reacharound.

FUCKING THANKS BEN.

ETA: It's like, yeah, I was digging. But I was only a couple feet down and you were all "Oh that's not fast enough!" and got the backhoe and now I'm halfway to China.

I only hope your ship's caught in the blast.

[Lys]

On the note of "clockwise" and "anti-clockwise" in a society that hasn't seen non-digital clocks in centuries, you can always bring back "deiseil" and "withershins". Of course, then the joke becomes from what hemisphere of what planet are you measuring the direction of the sun, exactly. Assuming everyone agrees on the definitions of "left" and "right" then "righthandwise" and "lefthandwise" work unambiguously.

[General Havoc]

I've sat here for over a minute and still don't know what the supposedly unambiguous "righthandwise" is supposed to mean in the context of directions on a circle. At 12 o'Clock you're moving right to get to 1, while at 6 you're moving left to get to 7. Yes, we could agree that we're refering to motion from the top down, like with valves, but still, seems more likely to me that people would just preserve the clockwise notion. Wouldn't be the first time a common direction or unit of measure was preserved for centuries after its original meaning was lost. Just look at the Acre.

[Lys]

Circle an object by keeping it on your right hand side, and you're going "righthandwise". Circle an object by keeping it on your left hand side, and you're going "lefthandwise". Provided there is agreement on "left" and "right" and it's understood that you're referring to which hand is inside the rotation and toward the axis, then it's unambiguous. Of course, neither word is anywhere near as fun to say as "widdershins"! ^_^

[General Havoc]

As far as I can tell, all that does is replace an existing term in common use with one that requires another second of thought for no actual gain. "Left" and "Right" are arbitrary terms. In the absence of rotary clocks, "Clockwise" and "Counterclockwise" will be too. That doesn't mean they won't still be in use. We still use the Acre and Nautical Mile despite the original literal definitions of those things passing out of existence centuries ago.

[Lys]

Context Havoc, keep in mind the context! The words "righthandwise" and "lefthandwise" don't have any ambiguity to make a joke out of. Their only suggested advantage is you can't readily make jokes about them! ^_^

Seriously, my stance on the matter is that with the advent of digital clocks we bring back "withershins" because it's one of the best words to grace the English language. We shouldn't start using "lefthandwise" or keep using "anti-clockwise", they're clunky and boring.

Also, the original literal definition of the nautical mile never passed out of existence. Unless you're going to argue about 21.6 cm (8.5 in), it's still a mean minute arc of a meridian. If you are going to argue about it, the change happened in 1929, still within living memory. Well within the Federation's cultural memory too, come to think of it, given it their cultural heritage doesn't seem to have made it past 1950. ^_~

[rhoenix]

"Like clockwork" will never go out of style. So too, I imagine, would the concept of the clock fade for humans. Other species likely have their own thing for it, and other factions moreso.

[Lys]

Mister Hamilton you bastard! You killed the cog, you ended clockwork, we'll have your hide for this!

Hey, you guys remember that episode of TNG that featured a language that universal translator couldn't fully translate because it substantially made-up of ancient cultural references? It's funny when you realize that most languages, including English, are also substantially made-up of ancient cultural references, meaning that if the translator had no problem with them, it should logically have little problem with the language of those aliens-of-the-week! Think about it: "titanic", "herculean", "cyclopean", "serendipitous", "heretic", "odyssey", "trojan horse", "Achilles heel", "myrmidon", "heavenly", "hellish", "saint", "juggernaut", "volcano", "armageddon", "epic", "genius", "janissary"... the list goes on. They are all cultural references with in many cases obscure origins. Heck, "left" originally meant "weak" as in "the weak hand", which would be logically be as confusing to a species that has no weak hand as the fact that Armageddon refers to a prophesied battle on Mount Megiddo. Plus, there's probably a ton of words that are cultural references so obscure nobody even knows them any more.

[Josh]

Well son of a gun.

(Case in point.)

[White Haven]

Well, it's official: Josh, you have an Andorian on crew, ergo the Meh'Ta is an Imperial Guard warship. So it is written, so a blue-skinned lawyer aboard Scylla will attempt to make it be.

[Josh]

I did that just for you, man.

[General Havoc]

Apologies for the delays. I'll post tonight.