Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

This is the place to discuss the various Star Traks series and stories.
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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by b-guy »

Halfway to Haven - Update

1.3 - Your Compliments

Part of a long voyage is meeting interesting new races, and hoping they don't kill you. As the USS Roadrunner prepares for their first new contact in the galactic core, two of their crewmembers are about to remind each other that it isn't just the unknown races you have to worry about...sometimes the known ones can be just as deadly! Well, OK. Deadly is overstating things. How about obnoxious? Obnoxious is good.

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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by b-guy »

1.3 'Your Compliments' Comments


Horray! I remembered to post this story on time! And I actually have some comments on it!

First off, up until I wrote the scene where the Roadrunner was tossed into the galactic core, I didn't plan on tossing them anywhere. In fact, they were supposed to reach Haven safe and sound. But I thought having the crew seperated like this would interesting, along with playing into the whole 'Halfway to Haven' title, which had been kicking around in my head before I even finished the last Silverado season. As a consequence, I didn't realize just how problematic it was going to be, having my characters a few thousand light years apart. The previous two stories bounced between Haven and the Roadrunner, but that makes it hard to do a more involved story with either group. So 1.3 is the first story where I decided to focus exclusively on the Roadrunner crew, while 1.4 is going to focus exclusively on the Haven crew. I found this worked a lot better, but there are still a couple of stories coming up in this run that feature both crews. The second half of the season...which I haven't even started on yet due to a desire to wrap up Crash Course once and for all...will follow the same pattern.

Second, I was ready to have some fun with this story. We've got past the series premiere, introduced (most of) the main characters and the premise, and had a second story to let the foundation firm up, so to speak. Now it's time to relax a bit and play...which is where Boxer and Llarthi come in. I recall in planning this series that I had them in mind as sort of a one-shot gag...they'd spend most of their time working down in Signals Intelligence aboard Haven and only come up from time to time...but having written them a little, I've realized that they're too much fun for that.

Finally, the Wuyan. They sort of came to mind as I wondered what kind of alien I could feature that wasn't going to end up wanting to kill, eat, rob, kidnap, or otherwise harm the crew. Honestly, we're turned the galaxy into a pretty scary place in the name of finding interesting threats to write about...and Voyager was especially bad for this. So I wanted a threat-of-the-weak that wasn't necessary threatening, but still had their ulterior motives and secrets. Y'know...like most of the countries and corporations we see in our world.

Hope you enjoyed this one. 1.4 will bring us halfway through the first half-run, a quarter through the season. And it will FINALLY introduce the last of the main characters...
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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by Star Traks »

b-guy wrote:1.3 'Your Compliments' Comments...Finally, the Wuyan. They sort of came to mind as I wondered what kind of alien I could feature that wasn't going to end up wanting to kill, eat, rob, kidnap, or otherwise harm the crew. Honestly, we're turned the galaxy into a pretty scary place in the name of finding interesting threats to write about...and Voyager was especially bad for this. So I wanted a threat-of-the-weak that wasn't necessary threatening, but still had their ulterior motives and secrets. Y'know...like most of the countries and corporations we see in our world...
Hysterical section on bridge crew before the Wuyan meeting/introduction

As for manipulation, one example are J1 visa individuals in the US [commonly hired via subcontractors thereby insulating both general contractor and/or owner(s)]. Nasty business
Distant Origin 3.23 Saurian Professor Gegen: It wasn't an invasion. We were on a field expedition to learn more about your species. We meant no harm. I'm a molecular paleontologist.
Chakotay: [referring to injury] Do you always harpoon the local wildlife?
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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by b-guy »

New Halfway to Haven!

1.4 - Hospitality

Everybody knows one of 'thos' coworkers. The ones that give the boss grey hair...the ones that don't really fit the mold...the ones that sometimes you just wish would hurry up and retire already so you wouldn't have to deal with the horrible stench their microwaved 'homeopathically healthly' lunches leave in the breack room. Well, most Traks characters sort of fit that description, but when Captain Simplot finally tracks down her dead-beat Chief of Security, it's time for the fur to REALLY start flying.

Check it out on the Halfway to Haven page!

www.khobrah.net/silver/h2h

Brendan
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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by b-guy »

Comments - 1.4 Hospitality

Ahh...halfway through the first story run. A quarter of the way through the season. And this morning I finished the last Crash Course story, so I can devote my full attention to the remaining stories of Halfway to Haven.

Three goals with this story. One, finally introduce the security chief, since all we've heard about him so far was a few complaints. Second, flush out Wyer better and explain why he has so many past lives. Third, something to underline that we're dealing with a city, not a space station.

The idea of Wyer's past-lives being suicide bombers is mabyne not very politically correct...I suppose I've gotten a bit desensitized to that kind of talk. But I did think it would make for a funny gag with a Yynsian. Y'know...you die, you find out you don't actually get your 70 virgins, but when you come back you have no memory of the afterlife so you can't remember just why you're so pissed off at existance in general. Ahem. Anyway, that was the thinking there. Also, he's a pretty mild-mannered guy, so I figured a little Mr. Hyde was needed to counter his Dr. Jekyll.

The security chief is loosely based off a few friends of mine. Army/Air Force friends. No, they aren't porn stars. But they do have an obsession with getting as big & buff...er...as 'ripped' as possible. It's actually sort of sad....we were on a field exercise for two weeks, and these two guys were losing at least 10 pounds a week without access to their protien shakes, and glutamean powder, and creatine, and whatever other crap they were using. (Nothing illegal...they're not THAT stupid. Plus, I've seen them in the shower. No back acne, so steroid use is unlikely.) Where was I going with this? Right. Stoneryder. His porn name, Steele, actually comes from a buddy of mine who is the only person I know who ever high-fived a water-polo team celebrating his own small penis. Where was I going again? OK. So Stoneryder started off as the parody of these male-body-obsessed (yet straght) gym boys. But it also struck my mind that we already have Simplot, who's fairly liberal when it comes to sex, plus the whole Matrian planet with its reversed gender roles (remind me to explore that more in future stories). I needed male character who could pull of a strongly sexual approach, and I'm sorry but Wyer and Shurgroe just weren't going to cut it. So. Porn star. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Finally, I wanted a way to underline yet again that Haven isn't a space station or a starship. I think this is something that Stargate Atlantis did a very, very poor job of. So there were two approaches here. The first was the transit system and the search for the library, underlying that you can't just step into an elevator and expect to go anywhere in the blink of an eye. (Except it turns out you can in an emergency.) Second was the weather system. I have a lot of theories about what you could do with the dome in terms of absorbing heat from the sun, radiating it into space, increading or decreasing humidity and air pressure and all the various effects that would have on the climate under the dome. Buuut....I'm not smart enough to really make an educated guess on how that would work out. So I added the idea of the weather control system, built-in nozzles for rain or snow and a sense of unpredictability to sort of work with that. And leaving the city in 'Winter' was just a sort of spur-of-the-moment decision I made at the end.

Hope you enjoyed this one. I installed a new web tracker on the site, and I can see hits from the US and Germany already today. So...horray! Somebody's reading this stuff!
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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by b-guy »

Hello all,

Star Traks: Halfway to Haven 1.5 - Size Matters Not

Lt Mytime and Lt Shurgroe may be thousands of light-years apart, but that doesn't mean they can't both have issues with the people around them. For Shurgroe, it's the small matter of being locked out of his own workplace by his 'subordinates'. For Mytim, it's a commanding officer who's decided that Starfleet just doesn't have enough rules and that it's time to make some of his own. But there's nothing similar to their solutions...Shurgroe sets off a chain of events that leads to a mad scramble around Haven while Mytim gets covered in alien goop. Fun!

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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by b-guy »

Size Matters Not Comments

Yup, back to the mixed storylines for this one. Mytim and Llarthi's plotline really had three goals: to illustrate what a prat Virgii is turning into, to get the chance in for a little character bonding, and to introduce Mytim's new...dilemma. I sort of realized that other than Strobnick's little camoflauge thing, none of my crew really has any interesting talents or abilities so far...and a few ideas popped up. So I definately have some long-range plans there, a few early glimmers of which come up in the next story.

The Shurgroe story arc was 25% about showing the inverse gender roles in Matrian society, with Shurgroe on the receiving end. But it was mostly the chance to go on a fun, fan-boy romp around the city. I used to build models myself as a kid, and I sort of had this idea that Shurgroe would always be building little sci-fi models that would follow him around like puppy-dogs. But I never managed to work that into a story. So that idea got merged into "how does Shurgroe show these chauvenist women he belongs in a shipyard'? It was also fun to actually put Stoneryder into a story doing his actual job, though you can see how well that turned out.

Overall, I thought the Haven characters meshed pretty well in this one. Llarthi and Mytim felt a bit more forced, but I think a good part of that is due to the situation they're in.

I'm very behind in starting the next run of stories. I finished off the last of Crash Course, then was hit with work weekends, a wedding and thanksgiving. So I haven't written anything past 1.8. I'm re-reading the last couple of stories from this run and gearing up to start the next 8, but there will definately have to be a mid-season break while I get caught up.
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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by b-guy »

New Halfway to Haven

H2H 1.6 - Off the Leash

Every once in a while, every crew needs a moment to sit back, relax and enjoy a day when they're not stuck in a tim can. Especially if that
tin can is a starship stuck years from home. But when Virgii, in a rare fit of commen sense, allows the Roadrunner to set down on a deserted planet,
they soon learn (predictably) that some planets are deserted for a reason...

www.khobrah.net/silver/h2h


Enjoy!


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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by b-guy »

Off the Leash Comments

Ok, folks, I know you're out there reading this series, I've got a web stats counter up and the site is getting traffic. Just haven't gotten any comments...yet. Interested to know what you think of the new series...

Anyway, I went back to focusing solely on the Roadrunner crew for this story, obviously. As Alan mentioned, being able to focus on one group instead of bouncing around gives me a bit better character development. So this story and the next are focused on either the Roadrunner or Haven. Anyway, I think when I look back on this story after a season or two, the early start of some of the ideas I want to try out are going to be found right here. Some of the issues with Mytim's new abilities have come up, and I plan to explore them a bit further. The fungas alien and the spore-ships are two more items that I hope will be making future appearences, I have a few ideas in mind for them. And finally, this story was a chance for more fun romping with Boxer and Laarthi. Those two have quickly become more fun to write than I originally planned.

Ummm...I guess that's it, actually. Have a good weekend!
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Re: Halfway to Haven Posting & Discussion

Post by Star Traks »

"Checking off Virgii's Law's," he said, showing her the padd. On it was a seemingly
endless list of laws, each with a little checkbox next to it, "Now, if you want to be finished
before we pass by the system, we need to get cracking!"
"The system is still several hours away," Lt. Laarthi pointed out from the helm, taking her
turn piloting the ship.
"Exactly," Virgii said, "We'll be hard pressed to get through the whole list! Why, we
haven't even started with the active scan question yet!"
Laarthi and Mytim exchanged a look.
"There is no way he's going to let us stop," Mytim thought to herself.
Interesting portrayals on Mytim/Strobnick. Mytim struggling with similar emotions as Riker on TNG episode with Q
The story line reminded me of a past Outer Limits episode [fabulous episode with an alien plant spore infecting a major metropolitan area].

As for the quote, checklists are a paradox of good and evil. Numerous examples include, but are not limited to, Star Trek TOS/Spock/marooned on a planet with damaged shuttle, Eastwood/Marines/Greneda Film, Black Hawk Down *

* Love to write further, however, a full schedule for the foreseeable future prevents it

Take care !!!
Distant Origin 3.23 Saurian Professor Gegen: It wasn't an invasion. We were on a field expedition to learn more about your species. We meant no harm. I'm a molecular paleontologist.
Chakotay: [referring to injury] Do you always harpoon the local wildlife?
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