David Foss

The Deterrence was commissioned shortly after the first Gam war (about one month after the conflict). Foss was given command on that date (is there an official documentation of that conflict in terms of when it happened? That'll solve the problem). ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Badgerius, you got it Seeker, I was waiting for Vauban, but I'll keep things running until he returns. Here goes (RP on) Lieutenant McKay stood at attention in Commander Junkkaris ready room. The Deterrence was in drydock at Galcom HQ, while she had been summoned to the Fleet Commanders office for a debriefing. The Commander was less than pleased at her report. What the hell were you doing out there, McKay? Why didnt you stop him? Your orders were to ignore any and all distress calls from Gammulan space! What part of that was unclear? McKay struggled to swallow the lump in her throat, struggled to keep her voice calm and even as she responded. Sir, with all due respect, the Gammulans deserved every shot they got. Junkkari slammed his hands on the desk, infuriated, silencing the young officer. They deserved no such thing, Lieutenant! What they deserve is a defeat. What they got was a victory, while all we got was a disappointment! There are twenty-eight crewmembers dead and over fifty injured! The Deterrence will be out of service for at least two weeks! Commander Foss is missing and very likely dead! You were assigned to the Deterrence to prevent this sort of thing, not take part in it! How can you think of this as anything but a disaster? He looked straight at her, his blue eyes seeing right through her. You should have relieved him of command the moment he ordered the Deterrence into Gammulan space. If not then, then by God, you should have done so when he turned command over to you and left the bridge, not ten seconds after he left the ship! Sir, I Enough! Junkkari roared. Lieutenant McKay, you are relieved of duty pending an investigation into your actions aboard the Deterrence. Dismissed! She straightened up at attention, saluted, then left Junkkaris ready room. She had barely made it back to the shuttle before the first tear fell. She was young, inexperienced, yet he had treated her like an elite Commander accused of treason! She boarded the shuttle, setting course for Galcom HQ. She would find Commander Foss at any cost. Her thoughts swam in confusion and remorse as the autopilot took her back to Galcom, landing smoothly in the docking bay. No sooner had she exited the shuttle, than another commander approached her. Please, sir, not right now. She said, her voice quivering lightly. Lieutenant McKay, I am Commander John Teron. Foss and I shared some good times during the academy. I heard what happened to him at Crystar. How did you find out? She asked. He stared at her evenly. Good news travels fast. Bad news travels even faster. Terrible news travels at hyperspeed. I heard about it before the Deterrence was towed in, so you can imagine how bad I consider this situation. Hes not dead. She said firmly, brushing a strand of light brown hair from her green eyes. Teron looked down at her, a stone serious expression on his face. Some would argue that point, but only because they dont like the idea of going back there to save but one man who disobeyed orders and almost lost his ship. He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Ive heard that you have some experience flying Solarian Interceptors. Is it true? The question was so unexpected that Teron had to repeat it before she answered. Um Yes, I do. A little. Why? He grinned. Because two of your pilots and your chief engineer will be filling in for some of my pilots while we go find him. She must have tripped on something. She fell backwards, her back slamming hard against the unyielding hull of the shuttle. She couldnt believe what shed just heard. Youre going to look for him? No. Teron said firmly. Were going to find him. We promised each other that if one of us fell in battle, the other would bear him home. The crew of the GCV War Hammer are at your service, Lieutenant. What about your orders? We dont have any, currently. Just sit tight and relax. I dont think anyone on the ship much likes those orders, though. Theres going to be hell to pay, sir. Teron laughed loudly. Yes, well, Id face Galcoms fury before Foss ghost any day! He looked at her, seeing her worried expression. She was green, all right. Time to do something about that. He shoved his face in front of hers, causing her to look up sharply in surprise. Toughen up, girl. The Deterrence has a strong commander in Foss, and Ill be damned if we lose him! But in order for that ship to survive his crazy impulses, she needs an even stronger first officer. Youd best start fitting the bill! The Irish still have some fight in them, sir. She said quickly. Maybe they do. He growled. But what about you? That hurt. She looked down for a moment, then back into the veterans eyes, not flinching a bit. When do we leave? Slowly, very slowly, a smile cracked across his face. As soon as youre ready, Lieutenant. (RP off) I hope you return soon, Sebastian, or this attempt to rescue Foss will be a lot more difficult. ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

I would have replied before now to the screenshots and this latest development if I hadn't spend all this time crying and subsequently looking for a replacement keyboard for my home computer. Heck, when I am at work, I have to have a piece of plastic wrap to place over the keyboard at lunch to prevent the same fate from befalling it. All I have to say is... Ooooh, what shall we do with a computer that has a Matrox M3D card, a 100 mHz processor (I still run BC3K v2.0x on here) and 50 megs of ram? Get it replaced once I have enough money which probably won't happen for a couple of years due to College. Even so, I will buy 3020 as soon as it comes out. It can sit in a nice dust proof case and I can admire the screenshots on the back of the box and read the SOM to my heart's content (or torture) until I can afford a proper system ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Well, the Deterrence will be out of commission for a little over a week. Hopefully she won't be caught in drydock. When is this attack planned? If it's the right time frame (about a week from the current time on the First Command thread), Foss will have finished what needs to be done and he'll be able to take the reigns again. At this time, he's been stuck on Crystar for five days, and the Deterrence has been towed to Galcom HQ. About another six or seven days from this point will provide the perfect window. I can see it now. Junkkari will probably be so PO'd that he assigns me to patrol duty around Jupiter so he can keep an eye on me. Low and behold... what happens just after the Deterrence is launched? His reaction would probably be similar to Foss'... "this sucks!" ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

I'm game for the thread. Just wondering if it would be possible to play some kind of marine assigned to protect the diplomat and his/her daughter. If not, I'm more than willing to go in on behalf of one of the IC pilots (Shodan). I sent you an e-mail of the same message. This is here in case it doesn't go though. My account has been having troubles lately. ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Not a problem, Commander. Either send me an e-mail (I sent one to you, did you get it?) or contact me via ICQ. 7746174 is my primary account number. ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

(RP on) Day three of our vacation on Crystar. Local time is 1300. Exploration of the cave has revealed no new exits. We have been using fragments of clothing and large boulders to mark our path. I thought wed found an exit a few minutes ago, but it proved to be only that of a recently collapsed tunnel. Theres no telling exactly how long ago it was sealed, though, or where it would have led to. Janice isnt holding up very well. She wants to leave. I cant blame her; I feel the same way. But we arent going anywhere unless we get a ship. We cant just waltz into that military base, as simple as that would be. There has got to be another way Day three, second report. Local time 2230. Further scouting has revealed nothing. The Gammulan security forces were very thorough. Janice and I found three collapsed sections in one of the tunnels. Those discoveries have been over the last three hours alone. Weve got enough nutripaks to last us a week. Maybe two, if were careful. But if were not gone after that, were in real trouble. No new Gammulan soldiers have showed up yet. Theyve got to be milling about here somewhere, though. Im perfectly happy to avoid them. I just hope theyll be as considerate. Its getting late now, so were heading back to the camp, if you can call it that Day four. Local time 1300. We went deeper into the cave today. Still no exits. Damn it, but all of the tunnels we had access to yesterday have also collapsed. The only tunnels we have found so far all lead down. We traveled down three separate tunnels, but they all eventually led to the same gigantic fissure. Theres no way we can cross it, and we sure as hell cant descend it. The walls in that area are moist, and far too smooth to scale. Even if we had climbing gear, I am not certain how sturdy the walls of that area are. They would more than likely give way. However, we dont have any climbing gear, so theres no real point in complaining about it. I just hope we find another way Day four, second report. Local time 2230. We took the last path we could find. It went down a few hundred meters, then ascended rapidly. We took it slow on the ascent, but we were forced back down when part of the tunnel collapsed above us. We almost didnt make it out of that one. Its almost sunset, so were heading back to the camp. Well see if this area is still usable tomorrow morning **** I woke up with what little light seeped in from the entrance to the cave. Time for our fifth day. I looked over at Janice, shaking her gently. She opened her eyes. "What's for breakfast?" She asked. I rolled my eyes. "We're not on earth, Janice. We're behind enemy lines, remember?" "Oh." She said, looking around the cave. Her expression hardened as she remembered what had happened. I was getting tired of this. She couldn't wake up even once without thinking she was somewhere else. Maybe the stress of nearly being blasted in space was taking its toll on her. We stood up and proceeded back into the caves. The route we'd taken was gone, having collapsed sometime during the night. I was too pissed off to respond to her comment, much less make any of my own. I simply headed back to the cave mouth. "What are you doing?" She asked. I turned to face her. Im going to find us a way out of here. I said simply. How? I held up the only surveillance equipment we had an old pair of binoculars that had somehow miraculously survived the destruction of the Js Pride and the shuttle crash. It was an ancient instrument from the late twentieth century that Janices parents had given her. Who knows how it survived, or even how theyd managed to make do with them? No advanced optics or zoom functions, just four curved lenses angled and distanced properly to magnify images. They were old, but one could not debate their effectiveness. Are you sure they will work? She asked warily. The lenses are intact. I said. They should be fine. They wont give us a lot of detail, but it beats observing from this distance with the naked eye. She couldnt argue with the logic. After all, ancient technology is better than nothing. We left the protection of the cave shortly after sunrise, taking up a position in a small alcove behind an outcropping of rock. The sun was rising, the colors not unlike those of earths spectacular displays of orange, pink and violet. The landscape in front of us stretched on for miles, eventually rolling over the horizon. The sun was rising behind us, so we did not have to worry about a freak reflection from the lenses of the binocs alerting the enemy. We just had to hope their sensors did not detect us. I looked through the binoculars, spying a soldier barracks right away. I continued sweeping the binoculars around, finding a mech station, a repair yard Then my eyes found what I had hoped for. A control bunker and the bases air defense sector. The pilots barracks, the detection equipment Eureka! Id found the hangar for the fighters! I almost jumped, ready to scream in elation. I thought better of it, simply handing the instrument to Janice, pointing excitedly at the hangar as though it were my parents gift to me when I was five. I was silent. She wasnt. She shouted out in triumph. Weve got a way home! Weve mmwutf? It didnt take me long to silence her. I clamped a hand around her mouth before she could say anything more. We werent within hearing range of the base, but I didnt want to take any chances of a security force hearing us. Id once been known to have the layout of every Gammulan structure stored in my head. It was time to put that knowledge to the test. We beat a hasty retreat back to our alcove, making sure no one had followed us, then proceeded to employ the age old tradition of leaders everywhere who are stranded on a hostile planet. Contrary to popular belief, it is not running around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off. Nor is it simply laying down and dying. No, its planning an attack with little to no forces in reserve. Just her and I. The old dirt covered floor of the cave proved to be just as useful as any computer terminal would have been. In looking through the binocs, Id been able to chart the base in my head, memorizing the location of buildings and key areas of interest and danger. The mech station was not a place to sneak through, nor was the armory or the soldier barracks. But the maintenance section that was a different matter entirely. It was on the outskirts of the base near our location. That was where we would enter. With the main route to the hangar decided, all we had to do was figure out when to make our move. I spent the rest of the morning observing the patrols of the security forces, memorizing their patterns and times of change; every four hours on the hour. Early morning, they were likely to be sloppy for the first couple of hours. Thats when we would enter. We would then sneak through the maintenance area to the hangar where we would hopefully find a ship to fly home. Anything bigger than a fighter would not work. But we also needed the navigation data to get home. Janice had been in space so long that shed developed an intuitive knowledge of the gates. Any route she took, whether familiar or first time traveled, she could backtrack with unerring accuracy. It unnerved the hell out of me, but it had saved her life more than once. Now it would save both of our arses. With the initial surveillance and planning finished for the day, we sat in our hiding spot and chatted about old times far past sunset. She offered first watch, but I told her to get some rest. Once shed fallen asleep, I proceeded to the cave entrance. She would hear weapons fire if there were any. Besides, all the other routes to this area of the cave had been sealed off. Perhaps their tactics would work to our advantage after all. I still did not understand why they simply didnt cave in No! I wouldnt say it. No sense letting Murphy kill me that easily. I would finish that thought when we were off this damned rock. I stayed up, far into the night, watching the guards patrol patterns and exchanges. It seemed as though they even went to the can at the exact same time, for crying out loud! Oh well. Nothing beats good organization. That is, nothing but repeated patterns and a patient and observant watcher intent on turning their organization into a hell to be remembered. (RP off) I'm a bit rusty here. Hope it still works ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

I agree wholeheartedly with your take on the matter, Akira. A merc is a merc. Not a goverment, not a politician... Not a fleet leader. Those who rush in and create a fleet for the sole purpose (it seems... I could be wrong) of saying that they are a leader... Well, let's just say I prefer being in charge of my own little BC, rather than an entire fleet. Part of a fleet is fine. I just don't think I can handle being top dog. I still wonder how you do it, SC. ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

I could have worded this sentence to make more sense, but I can't see how to reword it, so sorry if it confuses you all (I can't get it right in my head either). Chris: I'm not sure, but I think that falls under the category of a certain feature list that we all don't yet know 90% of, but love anyway, which also happens to be (as SC has said many times) closed. SC, if I'm overstepping the boundaries here, let me know. Just figured I'd toss that in, since I'm sure it's coming. ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Ack! The Warmonger and now the Stormcarrier??? Double-trouble! WAAH!!! I want one! I want several! I want... Hmm... no, that wouldn't work... I want to warp through time and buy the first copy that hits the shelves! ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Roger: I'm not worthy!!!!!! A truly magnificent job, Roger! Keep it up! Just wish my skills came close to yours Welcome to the forum from all of us, the poor innocent victi... I mean loyal and avid fans of BC3K! ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence [This message has been edited by David Foss (edited 07-28-99).]

Commander Hamblin, I think that this has been discussed before. However, I could be mistaken (might have been the OLD forum). This is a good topic though. Might be nice to have everyone's ship and motto available here. My ship currently has one, it just hasn't been implemented yet (you'll find out why later on in the First Command thread on the Role-Playing forum). Once that is implemented, I will revise this post. Cheers, Commander. ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence [This message has been edited by David Foss (edited 07-27-99).]

Commander Hamblin, If you need a hand with that ending, just send me an e-mail ([email protected]) and we'll see what happens. Good to see you're still at it, man! Keep up the good work! Sorry, been meaning to say this for a while. Been so busy I only just now got around to cruising the old threads ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Mano: I'm already insane! Muahahahaha! SC, not fair! Now I wish I could work with 3ds max to create more detailed ships! I'd create a few ships for ya, but it doesn't look like you need any help! Besides, I'm nowhere near the skill level of anyone on THE team, dang it all anyway ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Junkkari: Sir, we'll need someone to command the fleet while you are away. Do you have a second in command to take over during your absense? ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

I would say keep it on the forum completely. That way we don't have to worry about a mailing list. Besides... This is where the first session was held. It's kind of like home, don't you think? ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

(RP on) Mommy! The SC is being mean to me agaaaain! He won't let me play the game!!!!! **throws a temper tantrum on the deck, then gets up and remembers how old and WHERE he is....** (RP off) Ahem... SC, that is... I have but one thing to say... take as long as you need to finish this game... that'll give me the time to save enough money to either upgrade or replace this 100 mHz system (the only reason I don't call it a POS is because (a) I'm still using it, so I don't want it getting mad at me, and ( because it still works very well... for a dinosaur ... Try running v2.x on here... it's slow, but way too fun. I'd buy 3020 in a second even if it didn't run properly (or at all)... I'd place it in a dust proof case until I could run it. You probably can't spare one of your monster systems for me, can you? Guess in the meantime I'll just have to drool over the shots. Can you spare the money for multiple keyboards? ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Excellent to see you back, Commander Vauban! I'm glad you decided to return! I'll hold my posts till you get caught up It'll also give me the chance to iron out a few bugs with the developing situation Again, welcome back, my friend! ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Okay... It is long past time for me to get this thread off the ground. I made a promise to Commander Vauban and I intend to keep it. The First Command RP thread is once again active. I am back with a vengeance, and I will be writing for both Commander Vauban and myself until his return. (RP on) Ready, Lieutenant. Neilson reported. McKay sighed. All right, everyone, cross your fingers. She didnt allow herself to dwell on what would happen if it didnt work. Start her up. She ordered.  Roger. Neilson replied, reaching over to switch on the reactor. What was left of the shuttle was hardly worth mentioning. He was still in his pressure suit, the shuttles hull having been compromised. The reactor powered up, sending energy through the ship and into the main life support system of the BC. The ship seemed to lurch to life with the fresh dose of energy. Alas, however, it was not to be. Unfortunately, Neilson had been correct about the effectiveness of the reactor. In fact, hed been right on the money. The lights throughout the ship flickered, flashed, and died, the shuttles reactor barely providing enough power to run them all. The environmental controls were not going to work if this was all they could manage. The irregular light strobes were going to give him a headache, but it was better than nothing. He relayed his calculations to McKay. Lieutenant, I cant do anything for the life support system. This is as good as shes going to get. What about communications? As I can tell, the systems interface is shot. The problem is that I cant access the area from within the ship. Ill head out and see if I can find the breach that sealed that section off. With luck, the breach will be large enough that I can get through. Can you have my team join me? Ill relay the orders. Do you have enough parts to fix the damage? Like I said, sir, Ill have to take a look. Dont worry, though. Ill figure something out. He said, then signed off.  Neilson exited the shuttle and walked to the other end of the shattered flight deck, the computer repair kit in his hand. The stars stretched on forever. Small pieces of debris from the BC drifted through space, carried by the frictionless vacuum along with the damaged ship. He stepped out of the flight deck, the magnetic boots holding him to the deck as he vanished over the side. To anyone observing him, it would have looked like hed been sucked under and run over by the huge ship. He moved slowly, avoiding areas of the hull that had been weakened by the battle. No sense causing any more breaches. After ten minutes, he finally located the damaged section. It was large enough barely. He managed to work his way through, miraculously without any damage to his suit, then began inspecting the commlink computer. Oh, well. He mumbled. The way things have been going, Im not surprised to see this. Both the systems and AI interfaces were totaled. Lieutenant, Im sorry to report that there is very little that we can do. Her voice crackled softly in his ears, Do whatever you can, Neilson. Why the hell havent the Mandorians responded? He asked. Isnt it obvious that were up the creek without a paddle? Theyre probably concerned with protecting their borders. The humans who have been charging into Gammulan space havent exactly been considering the fact that if Galcom goes to war with the Gammulans, these people will be caught in the middle. Even so, if they would give a hand with repairs, itd only take about seven hours to fix the systems necessary to get us home. Well, whatever their reason, they arent budging. Theres no sense wondering about it. She said sharply. He got the hint. Aye, sir. He said, kneeling down to examine the damaged system. I suppose I shouldnt worry, he thought to himself. If they were going to attack, they would have followed us through and finished us off. Theres not much we would be able to do about it. The tactical computer cant run without power. Its about the only computer system that is still capable of running Damn! He opened a link to his engineering team. Jack, take your team down to the tactical computer and remove the AI and systems interfaces! Suit up. Ill need you guys to bring them to me along with the equipment to install the suckers. Understood. Were on our way now. We should be there in about ten minutes.  There is little point in bringing spare parts to your ship. The station tech said. By the way, my names Sarah Mitchell. Finally, a name to the face, Hiker thought. Shes too badly damaged. At this point shed be lucky to survive a tractor beam. Well, we will have to hope she can, otherwise your in real trouble. Lets get the show on the road, then. Runt said, climbing into the shuttle. The others followed suit and the shuttle lifted off shortly after, heading for Pravis. It didnt take long to tow the Deterrence back to the station. Arrangements were quickly made to tow the BC back to Galcom HQ for repairs, as a station on the border of a hostile front was not the place to conduct extensive repairs. Shortly after arriving at Galcom, McKay received orders to report immediately to Commander Junkkari in Foss absence. (RP off) Hmm... A bit rushed at the end there... Hope I'm not losing the edge... What do you think, am I back yet? ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Ouch! That's a lot of messages! DeSylva, it will take me some time to read through all of them, and even longer to compose enough notes to post without stepping on any toes (assuming there is not a summary anywhere, I will have to read each and every post). Once that's done, I will begin posting (though I will be lucky if I can do that before it is over). ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

DeSylva, could you add me to the mailing list as well? Thanks in advance, [email protected] ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

As I recall, BC3020 is still in development. I'm perfectly happy waiting for the information to be released, rather than asking for it. If I were to ask those questions, I would not expect an answer. There's a reason SC is only telling us about 10% of what's in it. What you're asking for are the details that would up that 10%. It might be best (in the interest of keeping the air in your lungs) to wait for SC to answer those questions on his own. To quote a saying from the days of pre-2.0, "It will be ready when it's ready." On a similar note, "SC will be ready to tell you the details when he's ready." Sorry, SC, hope I'm not stepping on your toes (looks worriedly at the airlock)... ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Somerset: I wouldn't mind a timeline and summary of what has happened in the e-mail RPG. If possible, that is. It would probably destroy the free space on my mailcity account. But, I'm game if you are. How long has it been going on? I heard some grumblings a few months ago, but I can't remember when it actually started. ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

I would love to join. My main ICQ# is 7746174. I have one for my BC account, but I can't remember it. I'll edit my post once I find it. I haven't been included in the current e-mail campaign, but if there is a summary available when it's finished (or it's not too late to join now) I wouldn't mind the chance. I apologize for not being around lately. Personal problems called me away. I'm back now, though, and in light of Vauban's tragedy, I will be writing double time for him as well. It's the least I can do. ------------------ Commander David Foss, GCV Deterrence

Commander Vauban, I have no words to extend that would even begin to convey my sympathy. That in mind, I shall do only this... Please accept my sincere condolences and know that the prayers of myself and everyone I have known go with you. I am not a religious man, but I do recognize the greater power, whatever it may be, and I reserve prayers for the times when they are truly needed. This is one such time. I am truly sorry for your loss, and I will keep the fires burning high here, should you return. (403) 288-4261