Zager Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 Well, I suppose I could do that. Or I could be a real prick and make everybody's lives miserable until somebody sets it to display russian characters. Decisions, decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ego Terrorist Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Now then all, Pickering has re-emerged...and as is as ever totally lost, anyhow I've posted, and I've entered the party (if not unwillinglying) and I've got a little side story running...bwhahahaha!! anyhow...erm, so what's currently happening and who is in command of the base and security? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonie Posted February 21, 2003 Share Posted February 21, 2003 Ego, I am somewhat counting that Pickering will eventually discover Martin Terrick's hidden goal here, so you might want to try and integrate your side story somehow with mine. I'm making a nice post so as to get you more quickly aquainted with my character too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alitorious Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 Hey, Loonie, can I throw another little twist to your plotline? I was thinking that maybe the reason Dana's company went under was because of a corporate espionage agent, like Martin. I'm not saying it was Martin or not (your call, but the company was a small Canadian firm if location has anything to do with it), but I think it'd be kinda funny. What do you say? Edit: Oh, and I can't seem to think of anything to plop in the fanfic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonie Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 That would indeed be possible. I could write that Martin had stolen, for instance, something that would otherwise greatly help humanity (save a lot of lives) but because Martin had decided to do as the corporation told him, thousands of people died. This could be a special vaccine or my preffered option some sort of jamming system that would affect nuclear missiles. I have a good idea of how to evolve that thing indeed. In any event sure. It would be great to eventually evolve the thing so that Dana confronts Martin that what he did was immoral. I'm up for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 It would make a good storyline but I would avoid the killing thousands of people thing Loon. It would be nice if, after the whole mess with Martin's corporation is cleaned up, if he could continue to serve XCom as a fully loyal member. They won't accept him as a mass murderer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zager Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 Yeah, we'd probably just take you out back and shot you if that happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonie Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 Actually you'd be surprised what real military organizations accept into their ranks. It would be more that he attributed to it, but what the heck. I don't have to do it really. I could just go with that jamming stuff that I made up which would not kill anyone, but would rather be a possibility to prevent a major threat to world peace, but alas because Martin helped out the corporation it was never realized. Okay. No mass murders, though I think that a true military organization wouldn't just kick him out or shoot him if he did that. Believe me it would look right past that and keep him in the team if he was a good enough asset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 Fair enough. Has anyone evr read the book The Trigger? By Arthur C. Clarke, it's about some guys who are trying to figure out how to create anti gravity but instead end up creating something that is a kind of electronic catalyst for any kind of explosive around it. Basically when it's set off it blows up everything blow-uppable. Bombs, ammunition, that kind of thing... Then in the second part of the book they have to design a jammer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alitorious Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 I wasn't thinking anything that large-scale. It was just a small company, after all, so it wouldn't be researching nuclear jammers. Maybe something small and as yet not thought of, that would fit an unused niche. That doesn't mean Martin can't have stolen nuclear jammers, it just means that he didn't get it from Dana's company. And if you did jam the nuclear missile, wouldn't it just fly off somewhere and still blow up? Just not at it's planned target, but maybe in the middle of the ocean (poisoning stuff) or in the middle of a farmer's field? Unless missiles don't blow up on impact, and instead blow up when they're told to (at a certain altitude), so if they're not told to, it wouldn't blow up, just crack open and leak radiation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonie Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 Heh, well I didn't say I had my idea developed yet. But okay sure something a bit more small scale and yet original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ego Terrorist Posted February 23, 2003 Share Posted February 23, 2003 Cool, erm but I'm now confused, mass murders? that was what lost me. But um, okay, I had actually a different person in my sights for the evil person...but hey it could still werk...however I do have a rather long term plan of scheming...bwhahhaha...*ahem* Yeah, so whats this evil plot of your Loonie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyfishGreen Posted February 24, 2003 Share Posted February 24, 2003 Side note to Ali: Nukes are precision instruments, in that if the electronics got scrambled, they probably wouldn't blow up right. The impact energy would make them explode with the energy of a car full of gasoline and spray pulverized plutonium. But this would be considered a dud. A ballistic missile doesn't need guidance anyway, once it starts falling. See definition of ballistics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonie Posted February 24, 2003 Share Posted February 24, 2003 Pickers, check Martin Terrick's biography for the full lowdown as well as the first post from me in the fic, though suffice it to say that Terrick was originaly working for a Japanese corporation as a spy and also an agent (something like James Bond, though definately not as flashy or heroic obviously ) The reason why he came into X-Com was purely because the corporation is threatening to kill his family if he does not do so and begin stealing plans from X-Com, like HWPs, laser tech,...that sort of thing. That's the basic "evil scheme" from Terrick, so in fact he is being forced to spy on X-Com. As far as mass murders is considered you might as well forget that. JFG I know and I wouldn't have just put it as a jamming system. It was just a quick thought, obviously not worked out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alitorious Posted February 24, 2003 Share Posted February 24, 2003 Heh, kinda ironic that Nukes, which are weapons o' mass destruction, are precision instruments. Thanks for the clarification, JFG. I expect that it could release radiation if it crashed, though. Definitely not something I'd like to have crash in my backyard. And I don't think Daniel would like Terrick getting wind of Motion Scanners. Heh, some irony is that the scanners are the second best thing to sell in X-COM that you make without any material input like elerium or alloys. As in, great market value they have. Loonie, how long do you want your guy to be stealing (or trying to steal) information for? If you can't express in hard time (7 months, ex) maybe techwise? Untill power armour? Heavy Lasers? Avengers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zager Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Alien tech would be pointless, since the elerium would be kept under heavy guard. No way he'd be able to sneak enough out to power a plasma rifle or power suit. I think it would make the most sense for him to go for the biocell plans, they have a potential market value of trillions of dollars. We're talking a power source that has the capability to replace oil here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonie Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Yes I agree to Zager's proposal. But however it would work out a *bit* like this. Currently Terrick has the HWP program under closer scrutiny. After a short time you can expect him to start reporting the first specs about it, though not completely obviously, since the security is still not to be trifled with in Pine Gap. Then quite possibly Medi-Kits or Motion Scanners. I think motion scanners would be acceptable, since it is after all mostly earth tech and would sooner or later be derived by the corporation. Martin stealing it simply gets them an extra edge over their rivals. And remember Motion Scanners could be adapted for many other uses than just combat (like tracking seizmic activity,...) He would get a brief glimpse of Personal Armour, or not at all if we take too long to research it. As far as the biocells are considered I would make that the mission where he is discovered. He slips up and is most likely barely stopped before transmitting data about the biocells. I have something like that in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zager Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Yeah, but we're using the biocells to power the HWPs. And besides, if you transmit the biocell plans, that Zager gets to go the corporate HQ with his legal advisor and hurt the CEO until her understands the rules on patent infringement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonie Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 And what makes you think Terrick will give away the corporation's name? You see the overall plan of this is that when Terrick is discovered eventually by Pickering or whoever, he will not be able to give the corporation's name away, because as I had posted once earlier he has a listening device installed somewhere on him. Through they cannot see what Martin sees with that device, they can however hear everything that he says and therefore it would be folly to simply give the corporation's name away. Even if he wrote it on paper or anything, they would still know that it was him who gave their name away and they would surely kill his family. Bottom line is that it will SURELY be made so that X-Com will never find out about which corporation it is, HOWEVER it will be made so that Martin with the help of the Intelligence division of X-Com will be able to trick them into thinking that he has been discovered and that he is no longer active. Zager might be pissed off as hell that he won't be able to insult and sue this corporation, but it won't help him one cent. That occasion would perhaps even provide a perfect opportunity for him to learn not to take his job too seriously, but that's for you to decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zager Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 Um, how do they expect to sell whatever you steal without us finding out what corporation it is? If they steal the biocell, and start manufacturing it, Zager will quickly find out. If they aren't manufacturing it, then it's not a problem, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonie Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 They wouldn't manufacture it. They would simply sell the technology at an astronomical price to another union or a country, thus making them pretty much untracable, since that country or organization would definately not tell from where they got the tech (the corporation would make damn sure so as that wouldn't happen ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Loonie, if XCom turns up wherever they're selling this stuff, you'd better be damn sure they WILL find out where they bought it from! The only way the company could get away with not telling them is if they didn't know. And who's going to pay an astronomical price to a complete stranger in a dark car park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zager Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Remember, we don't ask nicely. We ask like: "Okay, that I've shown you what it feels like to have Mr. Wrist Nerve poked with a red hot knife, I'll ask again. Where'd you get this technology from?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loonie Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Vetty, you have a lot to learn about how these things are served in real life. You talk about that stranger in a dark park. Obviously it wouldn't work like that, but has it ever occured to you that the knowledge could be simply transmitted over the internet for example? Or through dummy corporations? Or dozens of other ways when they could keep their anonymity? The stranger in the dark park is the oldest one of these tricks and it doesn't guarantee them anything, but I assure you that someone over the internet can easily provide various other ways. Look the both of you might as well trust me on this. X-Com may have an Intelligence division, but X-Com itself is definately not an investigation group. And the intel division has a LOT of other better things to do that spend its valuable resources to track down some company so that they could sue them all because of Zager's benefit (since only he would actually be able to get the money from the settlement and don't give me the fact that X-Com would get any since they officialy do not exist ). Not only that but there is no guarantee that even if they find them that it happens to be the right one! They could all to easily cover their tracks so that they pin the blame on a different corporation (if you REALLY want I can name some examples in my next post though I assure you it won't be a problem ) In any case there are probably dozens of ways so that they would not expose themselves and even if they did X-Com intelligence would be able to gain absolutely ZERO even if they decided to spend their resources to find them. So (in my everpresent geekyness) I'm pretty much the master of RL intelligence work and no one can beat me MWAHAHAHAHA!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JellyfishGreen Posted February 26, 2003 Share Posted February 26, 2003 Hey Loonie, Wouldn't it be safer for Terrick's family if Y Corp (or whoever) thought Terrick was still an active agent? I'm speaking of the scenario I proposed where Terrick is turned and starts feeding back information that is juicy, but leaves out crucial details, as instructed by XINV spooks. This would come after XCOM (a) find out he's a spy, and (B) learn the situation with his family, and © become sympathetic, since all our guys have hearts of gold underneath Does he really have a listening device? That would make it difficult and impractical to turn him without Y Corp cluing in. What would they do to his family if they thought his cover had been blown? Any possibility of him stringing Y Corp along long enough to get some clue as to where they're keeping his family? eg through background noises in conversations with family? Because that gives us a chance to write a Skyranger raid on the safehouse his family are being held in, since we can postulate Y Corp isn't aware of the full abilities of XCOM - such as Skyranger flight time. Hoo-ya! The raiders don't need to know who their opponents are, or who's paying them, just where and how many. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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