Clonus Posted April 15, 2009 Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 Identify the source-material. The galaxy is thrown into into chaos when it is learned that the Master Key has been discovered. Part of the regalia of the Immortal Emperor, it was lost when he was killed, but it's important because it contains the over-ride codes for all of the old technology, letting the possessor mentally interface with the robot starships and cyborg soldiers who are most of the Imperium's military force. The Imperium lives on under the control of the uploaded recording of the Emperor's mind and grows stronger every year. The only thing that might defeat it is the Key, but the more the Key is used, the more the mind of the user will be influenced by contact with the Emperor's mind, taking on its megalomania. Destroying it will do little good, the Imperium will continue to grow stronger until it crushes all free worlds. Using it to fight will do little good. The user will simply become a new Emperor. So a desperate plan is made. A small group of commandos will escort a reliable courier for the Key into the heart of imperial space, and infiltrate the computer complex containing the mainframe where the cybernetic Emperor waits. There the key can be used to trigger the computer's self-destruct, winning the war. But it's a long trip and some of the people on the way quite like the idea of becoming the new Emperor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lysando Posted April 15, 2009 Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 Re: Identify the Source heheh A skiffy version of Lord of the Rings, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristopher Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Identify the source-material. The galaxy is thrown into into chaos when it is learned that the Master Key has been discovered. Part of the regalia of the Immortal Emperor, it was lost when he was killed, but it's important because it contains the over-ride codes for all of the old technology, letting the possessor mentally interface with the robot starships and cyborg soldiers who are most of the Imperium's military force. The Imperium lives on under the control of the uploaded recording of the Emperor's mind and grows stronger every year. The only thing that might defeat it is the Key, but the more the Key is used, the more the mind of the user will be influenced by contact with the Emperor's mind, taking on its megalomania. Destroying it will do little good, the Imperium will continue to grow stronger until it crushes all free worlds. Using it to fight will do little good. The user will simply become a new Emperor. So a desperate plan is made. A small group of commandos will escort a reliable courier for the Key into the heart of imperial space, and infiltrate the computer complex containing the mainframe where the cybernetic Emperor waits. There the key can be used to trigger the computer's self-destruct, winning the war. But it's a long trip and some of the people on the way quite like the idea of becoming the new Emperor... Awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted April 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Re: Identify the Source heheh A skiffy version of Lord of the Rings, of course. Yeah I thought I'd start with an easy one. In the very far future, a world plagued with severe social and ecological problems decides to ask for help from the most advanced human world. Faster than light communication being impossible, they decide to send a ship and turn to the semi-human crew of the smuggling ship Chimera, genetic hybrids of monkey, pig and amphibian with human. In return for releasing them from prison, they are to transport a diplomat to that far off world and help her return with the database she hopes to trade for. Along the way they'll encounter hostile shapeshifters, natural hazards, and alien monsters, all the while having to cope with their passenger's demands that they find non-violent answers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Yeah I thought I'd start with an easy one. In the very far future, a world plagued with severe social and ecological problems decides to ask for help from the most advanced human world. Faster than light communication being impossible, they decide to send a ship and turn to the semi-human crew of the smuggling ship Chimera, genetic hybrids of monkey, pig and amphibian with human. In return for releasing them from prison, they are to transport a diplomat to that far off world and help her return with the database she hopes to trade for. Along the way they'll encounter hostile shapeshifters, natural hazards, and alien monsters, all the while having to cope with their passenger's demands that they find non-violent answers... Journey to the West, better known to most of us as Monkey! Fine use of Chinese mythology, Clonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Journey to the West' date=' better known to most of us as Monkey! Fine use of Chinese mythology, Clonus.[/quote'] Correct of course. Incidentally, I don't really know what Monkey! is. The characters are hired by a rich young patron to retrace the voyage of a space yacht which disappeared 99 years ago. They discover that it crashed on a Hellworld of giant saurians and plants that attack with animate thorny tentacles. And once they make their way past the natural hazards and a rival team of mercenaries, they find the passenger, a missing and presumed dead heiress in cryogenic suspension. The stock she'll inherit on revival is crucial to the outcome of a proxy battle for control of one of the largest interstellar corporations so they don't just have to find her and wake her up, they have to keep her alive until the day of the vote... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Monkey! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iUMWy4hqAg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusterBoy Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Ah, sweet memories from my childhood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted April 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Re: Identify the Source In a human-dominated galaxy, an exception to the rule is the Xiran, an alien species who eagerly learned all they could about human technology once we made contact with them. Once they achieved parity, they set about trying to carve out their own empire, and when the Confederation objected, the Xiran took advantage of the Confederation's complacency to launch a series of unexpected lightning attacks that destroyed the Confederation's nearest naval base and invaded and conquered several Confederation worlds. As another human power declares war on the Confederation, the Confederation comes up with a desperate plan. Having lost all nearby resupply bases, they'll disrupt the Xiran advance by launching a desperate attack, even knowing that the attacking ships who survive will not have enough fuel to make it back. Instead they'll land on one of the worlds the Xiran have occupied, and the crew will link up with resistance fighters there until they can find a way home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristopher Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Re: Identify the Source In a human-dominated galaxy' date=' an exception to the rule is the Xiran, an alien species who eagerly learned all they could about human technology once we made contact with them. Once they achieved parity, they set about trying to carve out their own empire, and when the Confederation objected, the Xiran took advantage of the Confederation's complacency to launch a series of unexpected lightning attacks that destroyed the Confederation's nearest naval base and invaded and conquered several Confederation worlds. As another human power declares war on the Confederation, the Confederation comes up with a desperate plan. Having lost all nearby resupply bases, they'll disrupt the Xiran advance by launching a desperate attack, even knowing that the attacking ships who survive will not have enough fuel to make it back. Instead they'll land on one of the worlds the Xiran have occupied, and the crew will link up with resistance fighters there until they can find a way home.[/quote'] We're supposed to guess, right? That sounds like the start of WW2 in the Pacific, with the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese conquest of the Phillippines etc, and the Doolittle B-25 raid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Blast! Kristopher took my answer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yansuf Posted April 24, 2009 Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Sounds like Space, Above & Beyond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted April 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Sounds like Space' date=' Above & Beyond.[/quote'] Which tells you something about where SAAB got its inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted June 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 Re: Identify the Source A campaign revolving around a voyage back to the character's home colony. Along the way they encounter worlds where everyone lives mentally in a paradisical virtual reality while their bodies work under computer control, a battle-robot impervious to weapons fire that takes them prisoner until they can find a way to blind its sensors, a biologist who wants to use them as test subjects for a technology that can radically change genotype and phenotype while leaving the victim alive, a planet of psychics who use mind control to try to get ships to crash on their world, a robot attack ship patrolling the area near a black hole. Finally arriving at their home colony, they find it has been taken over by pirates and must defeat the occupying criminals before they are done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristopher Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 Re: Identify the Source A campaign revolving around a voyage back to the character's home colony. Along the way they encounter worlds where everyone lives mentally in a paradisical virtual reality while their bodies work under computer control, a battle-robot impervious to weapons fire that takes them prisoner until they can find a way to blind its sensors, a biologist who wants to use them as test subjects for a technology that can radically change genotype and phenotype while leaving the victim alive, a planet of psychics who use mind control to try to get ships to crash on their world, a robot attack ship patrolling the area near a black hole. Finally arriving at their home colony, they find it has been taken over by pirates and must defeat the occupying criminals before they are done. The Odyssey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted June 10, 2009 Report Share Posted June 10, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Kristopher nailed it in one. Feel free to remove that question mark. Edit: Oh, and it sounds really cool. Weird how that works... which just makes it more cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted June 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Kristopher nailed it in one. Feel free to remove that question mark. Edit: Oh, and it sounds really cool. Weird how that works... which just makes it more cool. Yeah but I can't think of a stand-in for Calypso that would be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drhoz Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Re: Identify the Source A campaign revolving around a voyage back to the character's home colony. Along the way they encounter worlds where everyone lives mentally in a paradisical virtual reality while their bodies work under computer control, a battle-robot impervious to weapons fire that takes them prisoner until they can find a way to blind its sensors, a biologist who wants to use them as test subjects for a technology that can radically change genotype and phenotype while leaving the victim alive, a planet of psychics who use mind control to try to get ships to crash on their world, a robot attack ship patrolling the area near a black hole. Finally arriving at their home colony, they find it has been taken over by pirates and must defeat the occupying criminals before they are done. I refer you to the animated series Ulysses 31. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armitage Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Yeah but I can't think of a stand-in for Calypso that would be interesting. In Cross The Stars, David Drake's sci-fi Odyssey adaptation (set in the Hammer's Slammers universe) the Calypso counterpart was the humanoid manifestation of a planet's biosphere, which had formed a sentient hivemind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peregrine Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Correct of course. Incidentally, I don't really know what Monkey! is. The characters are hired by a rich young patron to retrace the voyage of a space yacht which disappeared 99 years ago. They discover that it crashed on a Hellworld of giant saurians and plants that attack with animate thorny tentacles. And once they make their way past the natural hazards and a rival team of mercenaries, they find the passenger, a missing and presumed dead heiress in cryogenic suspension. The stock she'll inherit on revival is crucial to the outcome of a proxy battle for control of one of the largest interstellar corporations so they don't just have to find her and wake her up, they have to keep her alive until the day of the vote... Did anybody ID this one? I'm stumped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Sleeping Beauty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peregrine Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Sleeping Beauty. How obvious in hindsight... thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drhoz Posted June 20, 2009 Report Share Posted June 20, 2009 Re: Identify the Source A plague of rapidly-breeding pests threatens the viability of a small colony. However, just as the situation seems desperate, the plague vanishes. A visiting xenobiologist takes the credit, but the locals dispute his claim - boom-and-bust cycles are common in many r-strategist species. Unfortunately for the colonists, the xenobiologist really is a master at removing annoyances... and he's now highly annoyed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeropoint Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Pied Piper of Hamelin, unless I miss my guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drhoz Posted June 24, 2009 Report Share Posted June 24, 2009 Re: Identify the Source Pied Piper of Hamelin' date=' unless I miss my guess. [/quote'] Correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.