# Finish the Sci-Fi Story V: Independent's Day control thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028 "2009-09-14T14:19:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/21 "2009-09-16T01:15:51Z")
I’m always so nervous about conflicting/cross-over posts. I don’t even want to start the fire-fight because maybe someone wants it big, another small. Maybe someone doesn’t want one, etc. I’ll add-to or riff-off but I feel nervous about taking the story in a particular direction that might conflict with someone’s post they spent an hour writing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/22 "2009-09-16T02:10:10Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > I feel nervous about taking the story in a particular direction that might conflict with someone’s post they spent an hour writing. 😃 These things happen. I think it was in the third story that **NCB** (who probably is still away from home at the moment) posted something that took the plot in a certain direction while I was composing something completely different. I happened to catch his post on preview and ended up posting mine after some heavy revisions. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/23 "2009-09-16T07:32:17Z")
Gigas are fun to write for. Their language, Gigaraal, is encountered so infrequently that it’s very unusual to be in standard-issue translators. Untranslated, it sounds like random Earth words and phrases. Sean presumably learned at least a rudimentary understanding from Sten Gnistu, a Giga and fellow Independent. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/24 "2009-09-16T14:19:36Z")
I’m rather dense at times. I think that the Gigas thought we were ambushing. Heard from Sean that we weren’t, and fired - not at us, but at something else that may be ambushing the Gigas. Then, and this is the question, Sean offered to be on the Gigas side and join the fight against whomever was attacking the Gigas? ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/25 "2009-09-16T14:52:31Z")
Oh, and did he know the Gigas voice was Sten’s? Otherwise Sean would need some reason for trusting the Gigas immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/26 "2009-09-16T16:38:05Z")
Corner Case, I PM’d Lute about the ambush situation and Lute said that the Gigas were firing on someone else, probably those who had traced the Rover, thinking it was the Orion. And the Orion is willing to enter the fight against the ambusher the Gigas have already fired on. And I believe Sean met Sten at least once, in a previous story. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/27 "2009-09-16T18:09:29Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > Oh, and did he know the Gigas voice was Sten’s? Otherwise Sean would need some reason for trusting the Gigas immediately. He knows the language but not the Giga it belongs to. As for why he’s so trusting, they could have fired at _Orion_ right after she emerged from the cloud but decided to make contact instead. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/28 "2009-09-16T18:13:52Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > And I believe Sean met Sten at least once, in a previous story. If they hadn’t met during the “invasion” of Dona Salo, they certainly would have encountered each other a few times around the Home Office in Dimrak Colony. Perhaps even during those skirmishes Sean and Alma were involved in; on the same side, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/29 "2009-09-16T19:46:16Z")
Seems Tor is Book with a dash of River. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/30 "2009-09-17T16:04:02Z")
Just to be clear, the gunner chairs don’t have access to torpedo controls so the gunners can concentrate on shooting. Torpedo controls are in Shad’s station. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/31 "2009-09-17T16:21:07Z")
The Epsilons likely belong to whatever passes for interstellar police in the area. They tend to be short range and thus don’t have enough fuel to get involved, which is why they only filed a report. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/32 "2009-09-18T00:03:52Z")
Lute, in your post in which the Epsilons buzz by the Orion, what does “off our six” mean? Is it a way to indicate relative position, like “six o’clock” or “port” or “starboard”? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/33 "2009-09-18T12:22:59Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Lute, in your post in which the Epsilons buzz by the Orion, what does “off our six” mean? Is it a way to indicate relative position, like “six o’clock” or “port” or “starboard”? Shorthand for “six o’clock”, yes; coming at their stern or thereabouts. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/34 "2009-09-18T15:54:31Z")
**Lute** , what’s the name of the world they’re heading for, with their cargo? Where the Epsilons likely(although not certainly) were going? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/35 "2009-09-18T18:37:36Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > **Lute** , what’s the name of the world they’re heading for, with their cargo? Doesn’t have one yet. Feel free to make one up. 🙂 > [@](#): > > _Where the Epsilons likely(although not certainly) were going?_ _Orion_’s original heading was about 45° to the right of their current one; they turned toward port, putting them on a heading about 15° to the right of the Gigas. The Epsilons are on a heading that intersects both. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/36 "2009-09-18T19:22:35Z")
Thanks! BTW, leo is “law enforcement officer” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/37 "2009-09-29T19:44:34Z")
_Monty_ isn’t from the VMC company itself but is at least based on a Victor Channing design. Perhaps it’s a result of one of those speed trials, or maybe sometimes while in exile he hired himself out as a consultant to other firms? ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/38 "2009-10-02T02:53:18Z")
I envision the shooting of Jessie by Alma to be where the fairly-good-Alma has to shoot the fairly-good-Jessie under some unusual circumstance. Sean eventually forgives Alma but there might be tension. Of course, I expect this to be the Android in disguise. And then there is the ‘how did the Android get Jessie’s memories?’ since it may wake up and pretend to be her. But you can make Jessie not the Android or the Android to just have the face, if you can think up something neat! ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/39 "2009-10-13T19:33:36Z")
I don’t mean to hog things. I just had a neat idea and wanted to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028/40 "2009-10-13T20:01:19Z")
Adding something to further the story when nobody else can’t seem to think of anything is not a problem. “Galen” was introduced by Baker in the last story; it’s a world noted for their medical services. “SISCO” is certainly an acronym but I’ll leave what it’s an acronym of to someone else. Perhaps Shad heard about a protoype of something being smuggled out of SISCO Labs? What if somebody connected to the Marcams heard something wasn’t quite right with this deal and sent “Jessie” as protection? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finish-the-sci-fi-story-v-independents-day-control-thread/510028.md?page=3)