Ben Zwycky

Sorry, missed that, but I meant that none of them were damaged seriously enough to make your escape any more difficult. I take back my complaint and look forward to the next installment Time for spot the difference in my sig again ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Director, CIOPS Directorate of Training and Administration Commandant, ISS Fleet Academy Initiate - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Seemed pretty good to me, Robert, though we'll see whether you're allowed that "specifically modified for cloaked operations", but stylistically spot on. ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Director, CIOPS Directorate of Training and Administration CO of Starpoint Starbase, Titan Initiate - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Well, it was only working momentarily. It keeps saying 'unable to connect to server' Anyone else experiencing problems? ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Director, CIOPS Directorate of Training and Administration CO of Starpoint Starbase, Titan Initiate - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Hmm, yes I'll have to agree with Ron, there. Half an hour passes, sixteen Gammulan ships destroyed and none of your ships destroyed or seriously damaged in almost a straight firefight. A little unrealistic. Not that I don't want you to get out of there, Ben, but you could have cloaked and run quite a bit earlier. It's not as if you had just used your hyperspace engines or anything. I don't want to nitpick, just want to keep as much believability as we can. ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Director, CIOPS Directorate of Training and Administration CO of Starpoint Starbase, Titan Initiate - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Well, I'm not in AW much for the reasons I gave earlier in this thread, but when I am it's usually about 10pm GMT on a Saturday night. I don't know about the rest of the ISS guys, we haven't really arranged any fleet AW meetings (We should I suppose). Most of the chat's we've had have been in the BC chatroom, which now appears to be working again so whatever anyone did to fix things there, thanks! ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Director, CIOPS Directorate of Training and Administration CO of Starpoint Starbase, Titan Initiate - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins) [This message has been edited by Ben Zwycky (edited 03-24-2000).]

*klaxons repeated throughout message* WARNING! NEW SIG TEST IN PROGRESS! APPROACHING CRITICAL MASS! ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Director, CIOPS Directorate of Training and Administration Initiate - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

I just tried the chat room through the chat applet and I can't get in! Anything wrong your end SC? ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Initiate - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins) [This message has been edited by Ben Zwycky (edited 03-23-2000).]

[rp] Firehail stood at the front and gave a moving personal account of working alongside Deadboy for four months. He recounted Deadboy's first day, when they smeared glue all over the back of his seat in his interceptor and left him in there for half an hour after his first training flight, hosing him down every ten minutes. Eventually Jana came along, felt sorry for him, put a stop to it and went and got some solvent. Not the most conventional start to a romance, but in the end effective nonetheless. The story got a couple of laughs from those gathered, then he became more serious. "We've got great memories. Everyone was amazed at Cavalry. At how fast he learned. At how much he could do in training, about how much he did to save so many. He was a great guy on top of that. Guys- wherever you are right now, I just want to say that you made a difference. You saved lives. You were heroes, and you were our friends. We all just want to say that we loved you, and will never forget you." He moved back to his seat with a mixture of determination and pain, making way for the next person to say what they wanted to say. [/rp] Is anyone else going to say something, or should I carry on on my own? ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Strategic Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Member - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

And How about type 6 for SCID if we can't get 3? I think it looks a mite sturdier than types 2 or 5, even if it's similar to 4, but its up to you guys in authority to choose. ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Strategic Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Member - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

SCID isn't really under ISS, they are both as important in the structure as each other, just SCID doesn't have as many members. Their tasks are often complimentary and connected, so they are under the same strategic commander. They will both eventually have their own fleet commander, fleet structure and staff, we just haven't sorted out exactly who yet. ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Strategic Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Member - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

I think we should ask for type 4 starstation for ISS, but with type 1 as the second choice, because it looks like orion will get type 4. I think it's better to have different station types, to distinguish between the fleets. ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Strategic Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Member - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Right, so is this OK, or should I put the two positions on two seperate lines? ------------------ Cmdr. Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda, ISS07 Adjutant to the Strategic Commander, ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer Member - Order of Jade Dragon http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins) [This message has been edited by Ben Zwycky (edited 03-20-2000).]

[rp]The GCV Svoboda cruised back and forth in Treas on full battle alert. Galcom was at war with the Gammulans and she, together with the rest of Flight groups Centauri and Eridani of the ISS Defence Wing and a significant number of SCID's forces were assigned the duty of protecting Sol from a backdoor assault through Vesperon and/or Empirian Space. The promotion of Ristar to Strategic Commander over SCID and ISS Fleets would make a massive impact on both fleets' structure and resources. No-one knew exactly where those changes would end, but they had already started. The Svoboda in particular had been given access to a number of experimental pieces of equipment developed by SCID engineers, some of which Steve, Chris (Elworthy), Paul and Nicola had integrated into the velvet strike package, along with some improvements to the existing equipment, suggested by Doug and Ben. Ben was in his ready room, monitoring the transmissions from several long range probes scattered through the quadrant, when he was interrupted by Karen: "Ben, we just received a nanoburst secure transmission from Renegade Station. It's for your eyes only." "OK, patch it through here." Ben inserted his security key to the secure comms panel and activated the retinal scanner. The machine hummed gently for a second then beeped. "Identity Confirmed. Decrypting." ---------------------------------------------- To: Cmdr Zwycky From: Strat. Cmdr Ristar The Dragon Council has selected you to join the Order of Jade Dragon. If you accept, you must reply to this message. Your reply will automatically self-encrypt. An immediate answer is required, as a cloaked Starcarrier class Supercruiser is on its way to deliver you your new security clearance and instructions. If I do not hear from you within 5 minutes that data package will be destroyed, this message will delete itself, and you are never to discuss this conversation with anyone else. Whatever you decide, you will still be my adjutant in my new position. ---------------------------------------------- Ben sat back in his chair. The Order of Jade Dragon! No-one outside of that organisation knew exactly what it did, or who it was comprised of, but rumour had it that only the elite from the various Galcom fleets were ever invited to join, and they were involved in massive covert operations all over the galaxy. He would never be asked again. He straightened up and quickly sent his reply. ---------------------------------------------- To: Strat. Cmdr Ristar From: Cmdr Zwycky I would be honoured, sir. Am awaiting package. ---------------------------------------------- As he reentered the bridge an alarm sounded "Cloaked vessel coming through the Tramis Jumpgate!" "Ready weapons, just in case." "Vessel Decloaking- it's Galcom, sir. A Starcarrier." "Tell them we are ready for transport. I'll be in the ready room." A jump anomaly appeared in the ready room and a courier holding a small metallic box appeared out of it. He handed the box to Commander Zwycky and saluted. Ben Saluted back and without another word the courier beamed back to the Starcarrier which recloaked and went on its way. Ben sat and used his security key and retinal scan to open the box. Inside was a new security key, a small electronic device and a datapad. Ben followed the instructions on the datapad, locked the ready room door, plugged the electronic device into his secure comms terminal and plugged his new key into the device. It scanned his retina and fingerprints then activated a new comms channel. Ben then purged the data from the pad and put it back in the box. Five seconds later the faint smell of burning plastic came from inside the box accompanied by a quiet hissing sound. The three-dimensional image of Strategic Commander Ristar formed in front of the Comms Terminal. "Ah, Ben! Glad you decided to join us."[/rp] That OK for you, Jeehun? I didn't put a time index because I'm not sure exactly when you wanted this to happen. I could always edit out whatever doesn't fit with whatever you have in mind, for example if you wanted me to join before the fleet restructuring. ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Strategic Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins) [This message has been edited by Ben Zwycky (edited 03-17-2000).]

I can't access AW from campus (because I'm not allowed to install the browser), and that's where I do most of my browsing ('cos it's much faster than at home and free), so I'm in the chat room a lot. Are you going to register that applet, SC? It's not a major worry or anything, so don't bother if you don't think it's worth it. ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Well done, Eclipse! You could always trade that ale in for some favours from a thirsty commander (Not me, I don't drink either) ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Cool! Well done, Alun! It's a title well deserved. It had always struck me as a bit odd that Galcom had two fleets created to counter the insurgents. I initially overlooked it because I thought that SCID was part of Earthcom, and ISS was part of Galcom, ISS were the good guys of the intelligence business, whereas SCID were the dark side of terran military activity. This is fine from a storytelling point of view, but as a serious military structure it's a bit of a waste. Pooling the two fleets together makes for a powerful and useful organisation, able to gather and pool useful information, but also have the capability to act on it themselves, and use their knowledge of the 'tricks of the trade', so to speak to counter enemy intelligence efforts. Makes a lot of sense IMHO, though I've never had any military or intelligence experience. (I can also think of some nice uses of some of that experimental SCID equipment ) ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins) [This message has been edited by Ben Zwycky (edited 03-17-2000).]

well, here goes: [report]"The Death Wraith" is a continuation of "Prelude to the dance", "Gamma Omega", and "Cerberus Stirs" and is based around the proposed bc3020 timeline DeSylva wrote: (see here for that) This does not mean that all these events will pan out exactly as stated here, but it gives the context and basic structure of the events unfolding. There's no reason why ISS can't end up more prominent This story is the story of the second Gammulan War. For those of you unfamiliar with those threads, here is a brief summary Prelude to the Dance The Gammulans are dissatisfied with their current position of not controlling every system in their quadrant. They mass together a large fleet of Stormcarriers and other vessels to capture the Falkerie homeworld and Cerberus Starbase (operated by wraith fleet), then move on and expand their territory. Commander Gallion was ordered by ISS and the Jade Dragon to capture a Gammulan transport carrying a new cloaking device. He has to call off the attack because of a mechanical failure of a jury-rigged part. He beams aboard a transporter bomb, which disables the ship, and heads back to Cerberus for repairs. Unbeknownst to him, Rattler was around, picked up the device and took it to Spectre, where it was installed, giving Spectre HQ dynamic cloaking ability. This is given the codename Raven Walters There are other minor events that happen, positioning ships in different places, supplying of Falkerie resistance cells, the massing of the Gammulan Armada (consisting of seven orders of Stormcarriers), but all just setting the scene stuff really. Gamma Omega The GCV Swiftsure is on a resupply mission to Artemis Starbase (a covert observation base deep in Gammulan territory), and gets to it just in time to evacuate the base and receive the core dump of the bases computer before it is destroyed by OTS missiles from a stormcarrier. On approaching Spartacus base (a similar facility), they find it has been totally destroyed by nuclear missiles. The comms guys at Artemis had managed to break the gammulan codes and intercept a message: quote: VTo: Li'Shai Gasun, Second Order Command; Y'Jak Lerut, Fourth Order Command Fm: Jarius Disregard all prior orders. Blackout commences at 1440 GST of this galactic date. At 1500 GST, initiate Backlash. Do not attempt contact until Rinaal is ours. Commander Somerset recognises that this can only mean one thing and transmits the message back to Wraith HQ: Gamma Omega. I.e. war with the gammulans. The message is received, understood and passed on with varying degrees of success. Wraith HQ's staff are evacuated and self destruct and booby trap mechanisms are set up throughout the station. Also many minefields and cloaked defensive formations surround it. Cerberus starbase is also evacuated, with defenders diverted to Rinaal. Many corsair and sin Vessels are swamped by Gammulan ships and destroyed. The gammulans used biogenic weapons to kill one of the ship's crew. This fact was relayed back to wraith. The GCV Prinze Eugen manages to survive being swamped and boarded. The Swiftsure manages to get back to Wraith HQ and take charge of the defences before the Gams arrive. Cerberus Stirs Gallion recovers a secret project entitled Solarin from Cerberus before it falls and is totally devastated Commander Somerset relays information necessary for breaking the Gammulan codes to Galcom HQ via secure cloaked courier. Gallion escapes from LV-104 (where Cerberus used to be) but is spotted by a single Gammulan cruiser, which Gallion destroys but only after suffering significant damage. The Gams outnumber the defenders around Wraith 6 to 1, and Somerset requests use of the G-2 units (a nuclear minefield) which breaks the credian accords and requires two command personnel's authorisation. The minefield devastates the invading fleet, but it is only set off when one of the minor ship's cloaking system fails, it is destroyed and the debris form that explosion disturbs other vessels cloaking fields, and they are destroyed and so on. Wraith Vessels decloak, attack and destroy a weakened vessel or two, then recloak and reform. Wraith HQ is evacuated when it comes under assault and the self-destruct is armed. The station is self destructs after it is boarded, taking out a few Gammulan ships and troop transports. Fifteen Wraith BC's break off from the defence and destroy large numbers of the iridium supply vessels before waiting for gallion to arrive and take command of them. 6 of them are lost, but leaving nine to act as a harrying force, attacking the gams from behind and disrupt their supply lines. The gams get their fleet reinforced to a strength greater than the invading force that captured Rinaal. Gallion's ship the Graf Spee evacuates the last survivors of Cerberus and goes back into temporary hiding. The gams analyse their tactics and begin to deploy probes that mimic the signature of an uncloaked Stormcarrier to trip any more Wraith traps. The survivors of Wraith make a new stand at Hadar-9, augmented by the Mandorians, who had just decided to ally themselves with Galcom. A single small insurgent outpost on Rinaal sends the message Raven Walters to Rattler before it is destroyed by laser fire. Rattler understands and gets the insurgents ready to defend themselves. The Death Wraith (so far) two more of the Wraith harrying force are lost due to an unfortunate accident with a meteroid , which destroyed one BC and gave away the location of another to the gams. Some of the gams other probes were incredibly difficult to detect and prevented target locks on any ship near them, even by the nuclear mines, creating safe regions in the system. This threw the defenders slightly, and allowed the Gams to get all of their forces through, but also bought some time for the defenders, who redeployed part of their forces (seemingly) in non-strategic positions while others fell back to Dabis Station. The seven wraith ships nearly moved out of their positions, assuming Gallion was dead, but were stopped by a transmission from the corsair himself. quote: The two messages that the Man had sent were simple. One was directed to Wraith and the other was sent to a Dragon. Both carried the same message a detail. The Gams have control of the entire Gam Quadrant and that Corsair was back and would be operational soon. The message sent to the Dragon included one thing not sent to the Wraith; a RFI on certain cell growth. The gams annex the Falkerie home world but can't find all the Resistance fighters. They decide to test their new recruits by sending them in to destroy the resistance or die in the attempt. They don't know that the Falkerie resistance has been trained and supplide by the Jade Dragon for years. ISS gets a strange message about the Falkerie resistance cells, which is passed on to Ristar. Well, that's the background up to the point where Ristar gets the message. (up to the post 03 11 2000 9:20am Not much happens in the next few posts, except it's the second day of the war now, there's a bit of a standoff between the Gams and defenders in Hadar-9 and Gallion has met up with the wraith harrying force, slightly strengthened by a few other BC's, and he's lured some of the vanguard of the gammulan fleet in Hadar-9 into an ambush after disabling a couple of stormcarriers and some cruiser escorts. [/report] Phew! I haven't had time to write a post yet, been working on this and am quite busy for the rest of today. Maybe I'll get something done tomorrow. Same goes for the other reports. Later, ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins) [This message has been edited by Ben Zwycky (edited 03-16-2000).]

Well, what we usually do when we want to post pics is upload them to a webpage and post the link to them here. If you haven't got any webspace, there are loads of places to get some for free. ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

I think you'll find mud has a tendency to slip through your fingers and land on your uniform if you try to throw it. ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

I'll just refer 'em to here "any questions?" ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Been nice chattin with ya, Xlogic. Must do it agin sometime. ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

These are the two threads with the original Iron man and blind man awards and who got them: http://www.bc3000ad.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000063.html http://www.bc3000ad.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000065.html Are you considering offering them again, now that it's a slightly tougher prospect? ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Welcome Doc! You won't regret that decision, I can tell you. I didn't Once you start to get your bearings with the game, you might want to take a look at the rpg forum. There's an awful lot of good stuff to read in there, if you haven't found that out already ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

Thanks, Max. I learn more about Karen's past every day [rp]Ben hadn't expected such an emotional address from his fleet commander. He shook himself, got up from his seat, walked briskly over to the lectern and carried on with the service plan. "Thank you, fleet commander. Many of us echo your thoughts." Frank tried not to lose himself in the storm of thoughts and emotions that threatened to engulf him and instead focussed on the single figure speaking at the front. "If anyone would like to share his or her experience of either of these men, there is now an opportunity for you to come up and say your piece." Many people stood and made their way to the front, representatives of the many groups of people who had worked with Cavalry and Deadboy, representatives of other groups who owed their lives to them, and others whose lives had been touched by them.[/rp] This opportunity is thrown open to anyone who is in the room. Now's your chance to say something about either of them, your experience of working with them, meeting them, relying on them, almost anything you like, really (within reason ). From my crew there are going to be representatives of the systems engineers, flight engineers, the other pilots (Firehail), the other backup pilots and Jana's going to say something as well. Ben will sum up at the end and close the proceedings. ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins)

D'Oh! Oh, er, I mean, I'm honoured, sir ------------------ Commander Ben Zwycky GCV Svoboda ISS07 Defence Wing -ISS Fleet Adjutant to the Fleet Commander ISS Fleet Recruiting Officer (acting) http://www.watson-jones.swinternet.co.uk/Svoboda "Nakonec pravda vitezi" (in the end the truth wins) [This message has been edited by Ben Zwycky (edited 03-13-2000).]